TWO thirds of year 11 pupils in Warrington picked up five or more A* to C grades in their GCSEs.

Figures confirmed by the council this evening show 67.7 per cent hit that milestone with 56.3 per cent getting five A* to C, including English and Maths.

Other stand out stats included

• 18.3 per cent of pupils achieved at least one A* grade compared with 6.7 per cent nationally 

• 89.5 per cent of pupils achieved at least one A*-C grade compared with 68.8 per cent nationally.

 In addition nearly half (43.4 per cent) of all young people achieved at least one A* or A grade and three pupils achieved 10 A*s.

Clr Jean Carter, executive board member for children and young people’s services, said: “We want to congratulate young people in Warrington who are getting results today.

"These results are a credit to all the hard work and determination shown by students and the excellent teaching and support from teachers, school staff, governors and parents.

“There has been significant amount of change this year to the system so we did anticipate we might see variations in results.

"There is volatility in results nationally with a particular drop in GCSE English results being reported.

"We are still to analyse subject level results but concerns with English results have been reported by a number of schools.

“However, young people have worked extremely hard and we will now be doing everything we can to support them and help them onto the next path whether that be in education or training.

"We wish all our young people the best of luck for the future.”

Advisers will be on hand on Wednesday for young people who need tips on their future.

The council’s Careers for Young People service is holding the event at their centre in Times Square, between 1pm and 4pm.

Or call the centre on 424900 or visit careersforyoungpeople.co.uk or visit the facebook page facebook.com/careersforyoungpeople.