Students in the three Church of England Secondary Schools in the diocese of Worcester celebrated receiving their GCSE results yesterday with all of the schools seeing increased numbers of students achieving five or more A*-C grades.

Bishop Perowne Performing Arts College in Worcester city reported 82% of students achieving five A*-C passes, with 65% gaining five A*-C passes including English and maths. In seven different subject areas, 100% of the students gained A*-C grades and 1 in 4 gained A* or A in Maths and English. Bishop Perowne's top performing student gained 16 A*s and 32 students gained more than seven A*s. Of particular note was the achievement of Sophie Tothill, a Year 7 student who has achieved an A* in Maths.

Dyson Perrins CE Academy in Malvern achieved 87% of students gaining five or more A*-C grades with 52% gaining five A*-C including Maths and English. Amongst the top performers were Chloe Houghton, Chris Jeffrey, Edward Lake, Dan Soley, Helen Nethaway, Helena Slim and Maya Brown who collectively achieved a brilliant 61 A* and A grades. Departments such as Art & Design and Resistant Materials saw 100% of their students score A*-C grades and in Modern Foreign Languages over half of all students who sat the exam received either an A* or an A.

Wolverley CE Secondary School near Kidderminster achieved their highest ever pass rate with 78% of students gaining five A*-C grades and 36% gaining five A*-C including English and Maths There were many exceptional individual performances: Hazel Brown added to her A*, 3As and 6Bs with a B in AS Art a year early, before she had even started in the 6th form.  Samantha Thomas: 4A*, 3As, 4Bs, 1C; Yanis Goodman: 3A*, 3As, 2Bs, 2 Cs; Ryan Haycock: 2A*s, 4As, 1B, 2Cs; Chloe Ingram: 3A*, 5As, 3Bs. Many students also benefitted from work based courses with very positive outcomes in the new diplomas and the Young Apprentice qualification.

Diocesan Director of Education Ann Mundy said: "It's wonderful to see good results in all our schools. I would like to commend everyone for their hard work, both the students and the staff."

Julie Farr, Head at Bishop Perowne said: "These results belong to the students, parents and staff of the College and we are all very proud of our students' success. It's especially important to us that these results have been achieved in the core academic subjects, which are recognised and highly valued by employers and universities alike."

Stuart Wetson, Assistant Head at Dyson Perrins said: "These increases on previous years are the reward for the efforts and endeavours of the students and the continued hard work and support of the teachers and parents. We are delighted with the results but, as ever, ambitious for continued improvements in the years to come."

Richard North, Head at Wolverley said: "It is great to see so many students responding so positively to the opportunities they have at Wolverley. These results reflect a huge commitment from both staff and students. Congratulations to all."