Secondary schools in the two counties revealed a mixed response to this year's GCSE performance tables, released this week.

Hanley Castle High School recorded good results, with 70 per cent of its 150 eligible pupils achieving five or more A*-C grades, up from 57 per cent in the previous year.

New headteacher Rob Haring said: "We're absolutely thrilled with how the youngsters did last year.

"The teachers and pupils worked extremely hard and the results are wonderful."

He said that real success for a school was ensuring that the students achieved their full potential. He said he was confident that Hanley Castle had done that.

At St James's School, the independent girls' school in West Malvern, 68 per cent of pupils gained five or more grades A*-C, 24 per cent more than in 2003.

Headteacher Rosalind Hayes said: "We're very pleased with the results, it's a huge increase from the previous year.

"It's also interesting that nobody got a U grade, everybody got a grade A*-G."

She said although the results were positive, they did not take into account several factors including pupils who took the exams a year early and passed, or students whose first language was not English.

At Queen Elizabeth High School in Bromyard, the percentage of students achieving five or more A*-C grades dipped from 43 per cent in 2003 to 37 per cent in 2004.

Headteacher Pat Jewkes said: "We're a small school, so it's hard to compete with larger ones, even from one year to the next.

"This particular year had an unusually high number of students with statements of Special Educational Needs.

"What we're interested in is making sure we do the best we can for all of our students."

Julien Kramer, head of educational services at Worcestershire County Council, said he was delighted with the results.

"Worcestershire's results have gone up every year for the last six years and we're consistently above the national average. We have a number of schools that consistently get into the top quartile in the country, and that's magnificent."

Mr Kramer said the value added by Worcestershire schools was now very good.

"This means children of all abilities are getting a much better deal in education," he said.