PUPILS and staff at a York secondary school have been singled out for praise from the Government for their exam league table success.

Schools Minister Jim Knight is singing the praises of Manor CE School, in York, after it appeared in the top 100 of the most improved schools in the country in terms of GCSE exam, success. Manor was listed at 96.

Ripon College, in Ripon, appeared at 24 in the list.

The Press reported on Thursday that City of York Council's children's services department welcomed the results of the national achievement and attainment tables, published by the Department For Children Schools And Families.

They showed GCSE and post-16 qualification scores and that a total of 67.5 per cent of young people in York achieved five or more A* to C grades - an improvement on the previous year's figure by almost six per cent.

The figure put York in the top ten per cent of local authorities nationally.

Results at Manor show that over the past four years the percentage of pupils gaining five or more GCSEs at A*- C has gone up form 64 per cent in 2004, 73 per cent in 2005 and 74 per cent in 2006 to 79 per cent last year.

Mr Knight said: "I want to congratulate pupils and teachers at Ripon College and Manor C of E in York for their excellent performance in this year's GCSE results.

"The results for the schools show that they are amongst the top performing schools this year based on sustained improvements in 5+ higher level GCSEs (grades A*- C), including English and maths.

"It's the commitment of everyone - students, parents and staff - who work together to put learning first and to raise levels of achievement.

"We are delighted to see such good results. I am pleased to see that this level of improvement in GCSE results is being replicated in schools across the country.

"Nationally, there has not only been another impressive increase in the proportion of pupils achieving five or more higherlevel GCSEs or equivalent, but we have impressively already met the 2008 target of least 60 per cent of pupils achieving that level with 60.8 per cent of pupils achieving the indicator."

Manor's head teacher, Brian Crosby, said: "The continual improvement shown over the last five years is a result of outstanding teaching by dedicated colleagues supported by motivated students who have made the most of their opportunities.

"I would like to thank both the students and staff for their tremendous effort over the last year."