A Worcestershire high school has received national recognition as one of the top 100 schools in England.

Hanley Castle High School was told it was one of the top 100 non-selective state-funded schools in the country which had shown the greatest sustained improvement in the percentage of students achieving five or more A*-C grades, including English and mathematics.

The 'sustained improvement' covers the period from 2013 to 2015 and the school was ranked out of 3,500 secondary schools in England.

Nick Gibb, minster of state for schools, wrote to the school to congratulate staff and students on their excellent GCSE results.

Mr Gibb's letter congratulated the staff on their hard work and professionalism and emphasised that exam results are a strong basis for further education and employment.

Lindsey Cooke, the school's headteacher, said: "We were so pleased to receive such a lovely letter.

"It is very gratifying to see the sustained hard work of staff and students recognised at a national level.

"There is a genuine team spirit at Hanley Castle, and results like these reflect the very high quality of teaching combined with highly-motivated and happy students."

In 2015, 72 per cent of the school's year 11 students achieved five or more GCSEs at A*-C, including English and mathematics.

In the same year, the school's Humanities faculty was also ranked in the top one percent of English schools for its GCSE results, while its Science faculty was ranked in the top three per cent.

Those figures were based on how much value was added between the children's results in key stage 2 and their GCSE results.

Mrs Cooke added: "They are not talking about low achieving schools that have got better.

"They are talking about already high-achieving schools that have continued to improve.

"We've been a high achieving academy since our conversion in 2011 but we have continued to improve.

"I think that's much harder and the work the staff and students have put into sustaining the achievement is what's made the difference.

"Just because you are good doesn't mean you can't get better.

"The staff here are so keen to try out new ideas."