Live results and video: Yorkshire schools celebrate GCSE record

In full: Results from Yorkshire’s schools - as we receive them

Headteachers at both state and private schools and an education chief from a Yorkshire council that traditionally struggles in league tables all hailed “best-ever results” this morning.

Increasing numbers of students are expected to get top marks, experts predicting that one in four exams will be marked as As while around one in 12 nationally will achieve an A*.

Nearly one in four (23.2%) of entries scored at least an A grade this year, up from 22.6% in 2010. And nearly seven in 10 exams (69.8%) were awarded a C or above.

Independent schools were among the first to announce their results today. At one leading Yorkshire girls’ school, almost 90 per cent of the exams sat resulted in A* , A or B grades this year.

Sheffield High, in Broomhill, also saw seven pupils achieve A*s in all 10 or more of their subjects.

The Grammar School at Leeds hailed record results with almost three-quarters of its pupils achieving an A* or an A, while Bootham School, in York, had 21 students picking up 10 or more straight A* or A grades.

In the state sector David Young Community Academy in Leeds is celebrating almost half of its year 11 students achieving five A* to C passes including English and maths.

Hull College students achieved an overall pass rate of 97 per cent, including 100 per cent pass rates in many subjects including French and science.

Across the whole of the city students delivered record pass rates.

Almost half of Hull’s pupils achieved the Government benchmark of five A* to C grades including English and maths. Around 45 per cent of pupils achieved this target up three per cent on the previous year’s results.

Education chiefs and head teachers paid tribute to students for their achievement this morning. Hull Council’s education portfolio holder Coun Helene O’Mullane said: “I would like to congratulate all our young people who have received their results today and also those governors, teachers, school staff and families who have supported them....To achieve record-breaking results again this year shows that education in Hull really is on the up.”

Sheffield High’s headmistress Valerie Dunsford said: “I am absolutely delighted with these results and I am extremely proud of what the pupils and staff have achieved. With around half of the year group achieving at least nine A* or A grades at GCSE, the performance of our girls has been as impressive as ever.”

The exam success being achieved, however, looks set to be overshadowed as political rows erupt over two Government decisions.

Labour Shadow Education Secretary Andy Burnham has criticised Ministers for scrapping the education maintenance allowance which provided cash support to help young people from poorer backgrounds to stay in education until they are 19, while a leading trade union hit out at the latest performance measure on which schools are being judged.

This year league tables included the new English Baccalaureate – awarded to pupils who achieve six good GCSE grades in subjects including English, maths, two sciences and modern language and either history or geography.

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) has warned the move will cut the choice of GCSEs schools will be able to offer as they look to hit the latest targets.

Its general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted said: “Education Secretary Michael Gove’s English Baccalaureate is likely to restrict the range of subjects taught to GCSE.

“This risks demotivating and alienating the thousands of young people who struggle with academic subjects and would be better suited to taking a wider variety of subjects to give them the skills for a range of careers.”