Slough’s GCSE results have moved up to seventh place in the country and are bucking the national average for students achieving A* to C grades, including English and maths.

The latest figures released by the government show Slough students are gaining more good GCSEs than ever before, placing the town seventh best in the country ahead of Windsor and Maidenhead, Bracknell and West Berkshire Councils.

Overall, 71.4 percent of pupils achieved five or more A* to C grades, including English and maths, exceeding the national average of 59.2 percent.

Schools are showing improvement year on year. Compared with the 2008 results, the number of students achieving five or more grades A* to C has increased by 11.7 percent from 59.7 to 71.4 percent.

Slough is also higher than the national average when looking at the achievements of children in care and those eligible for free school meals - 49.3 percent achieved A*-C grades in at least English and maths compared to the national average of 40.9 percent.

Councillor Pavitar Kaur Mann, commissioner for education and children said: “Being placed seventh in the country is testament to the hard work of students, teachers and support staff and the effective working relationships between schools and the local authority.

“In 1998 when Berkshire County Council was responsible for education, Slough was placed 97th in the country out of 150 local authorities, and today we are in seventh place - it really shows how Slough schools have come on leaps and bounds to achieve Slough’s best GCSE results to date.

“While we will celebrate our success and recognise the hard work our schools are doing, we will not become complacent and will continue to strive for further improvements. We’re committed to providing our children and young people with the best possible education in Slough and the opportunity to translate this into successful careers for the future.” Robin Crofts, lead for education said: “The results at key stage one and two in our primary schools have been steadily improving and this has had a positive knock on effect on the secondary schools across the town.

“In recent years Slough’s secondary schools have improved so that now ten of the eleven schools are good (27 percent) or outstanding (64 percent). The number of outstanding schools is now substantially above the national average.

“Slough has been around 11th nationally out of 152 local authorities for five or more A*-C GCSEs including maths and English over recent years. Not only has this position been sustained, but the summer 2013 results have shown a significant rise linked to further improvement across the non-selective secondary schools such as at Baylis Court, Langley Academy, Slough and Eton, The Westgate and Wexham Secondary School.

“This has helped improve Slough’s position in the national ranking of local authorities to seventh position, and is reflected in Slough parents now showing a stronger preference for Slough secondary schools than was the case in previous years.” Particular achievements from individual schools at five or more A* to C grades including English and maths include: Baylis Court improved by 25 percent from 43 percent in 2010 to 68 percent in 2013 Langley Academy improved by 12 percent from 44 percent in 2010 to 56 percent in 2013 Slough and Eton CoE Business and Enterprise College improved by 5 percent from 50 percent in 2010 to 55 percent in 2013 Wexham Secondary School improved by 5 percent from 45 percent in 2010 to 50 percent in 2013.

For the full results, pick up a copy of Friday's Observer