“TOUGHENED up” exams have improved Herefordshire’s GCSE scores according to analysis by the Department for Education.

Statistics out today (Friday) taken from 2014 figures show Herefordshire as one of only six local authority areas nationally to show such an improvement against a series of system reforms.

The county’s top performer was St  Mary’s RC High School where 87% achieved at least five GCSE passes, including English and mathematics, and over half of all pupils attained at least 3 top A* and A grades.

Wigmore was next on the list with 80%.

The lowest performer – by some way – was The Hereford Academy on 35%

Five other schools also showed marked improvements: Bishop of Hereford’s Bluecoat School, John Masefield High School, Fairfield High School, Queen Elizabeth Humanities College, John Kyrle High School and Sixth Form Centre.

The lowest performer – by some way – was The Hereford Academy on 35%

Ratings also include the results of the English Baccalaureate (EBAC) - a new performance indicator which measures the percentage of students in a school who achieve five or more GCSE A*-C grades in English, mathematics, two sciences, a foreign language and history or geography.

EBAC results for pupils at Aylestone Business and Enterprise College, Earl Mortimer College and Sixth Form Centre, Lady Hawkins Academy and Sixth Form Centre and Whitecross High School and Specialist Sports College showed significant improvement.

Percentage of all pupils achieving 5 A*-C GCSEs (or equivalents) including English and maths GCSEs:

Aylestone - 50%

Earl Mortimer – 51%

Fairfield – 74%

John Kyrle – 64%

John Masefield – 68%

Kingstone – 68%

Lady Hawkins – 56%

Queen Elizabeth – 62%

St Mary’s – 87%

Bishop of Hereford’s Bluecoat – 65%

Hereford Academy – 35%

Weobley – 49%

Whitecross – 49%

Wigmore – 80%