DIDN'T they do well.

Schools across York and North Yorkshire were today celebrating a year of success as league tables were published.

The tables show the performance of GCSE and A-level students throughout the country over the last year.

Among the big winners was Huntington School, whose head teacher, Chris Bridge, said the results were "beyond my dreams.

He said: "They reflect the eagerness of students at this school to be successful."

Huntington was ranked 155th in the country for A-level success. Other top performing state schools included Fulford School - placed 177 out of the top 200.

In North Yorkshire, Harrogate Grammar School ranked 129 and Tadcaster Grammar School came in at 156.

Independent school Bootham School also did extremely well ranking sixth out of all the schools in the country for its A-level results.

The figures for GCSEs showed 56.5 per cent of children in York's secondary schools leave with five or more A*-C grade GCSEs, above the national average of 53.7 per cent.

This is down on last year's record performance when 58.8 per cent of children in York's secondary schools left with five or more A to C grade GCSEs.

Coun Carol Runciman, City of York Council's executive member for education, said the results showed that York continues to perform significantly better than the national average in the number of pupils getting A to C and A to G grades.

But she said she was slightly disappointed compared with last year's "superb" results.

"These results show that York pupils still perform well above the national average at GCSE level," she said.

"Their success is a tribute to their hard work and that of their teachers and other education staff.

"Obviously, the value add results are slightly disappointing in comparison to last year's superb set of results, but we will do everything we can to work towards the high standards we have previously set ourselves."

North Yorkshire education chiefs also welcomed their schools' achievements.

Coun Chris Metcalfe, executive member for education, said: "People in North Yorkshire get used to hearing good news about their secondary schools because they do such a very good job.

"There's always a danger that they might get taken for granted. What these tables show is that schools and the county council take nothing for granted, and that we all go on working to do even better."

Meanwhile, ministers today welcomed GCSE figures which showed a rise in the overall pass rate, despite confirmation that the Government missed its key targets.

The overall national pass rate for grades A*-C at GCSE and equivalent went up by 0.8 per cent in 2004, while A-Level passes also increased.

Updated: 10:49 Thursday, January 13, 2005