WILTSHIRE schools are performing above the national average in their GCSE exams.

The Department for Education and Employment released the 2000 secondary school performance league tables this week, and according to the statistics GCSE students in the county are performing well above the national average.

More than 90 per cent of pupils gained five or more GCSE passes, and more than half of pupils gained five or more passes at the top grades.

The county chief education officer, Bob Wolfson, said: "These results represent many hours of well-planned and targeted work by teachers across Wiltshire. They are the result of good teaching and sustained effort by pupils."

Dr Pam Stoate, headteacher at George Ward School, said the tables did not reflect the achievements of students during their five years.

"The most important thing is that we are working on year-on-year value added rather than making sure we creep up the league tables," she said.

Stonar School in Atworth celebrated GCSE success in the summer, and headteacher Sue Hopkinson said: "Results all round were very good, especially our GCSEs. There were really some outstanding personal achievements."

Westbury's Matravers School headteacher, Nigel Gilhespy, said: "I'm delighted we met the target we set at the beginning of the year.

"This reflects a lot of hard work by both staff and students. The challenge now is to make sure we keep it at that level."

Martin Williams, the headteacher at The Corsham School, said he was pleased with the GCSE results.

"Our Ofsted report said pupils made good progress from the average attainment they had when they first came to the school, and that there was a high proportion of very good teaching.

Mr Williams said: "It is nice to know we are getting it right. There's always room for improvement and we're going to get even better, but we are pleased with these tables. Corsham is a Wiltshire school which is getting better in an authority which is also getting better."

Deputy headteacher of The John of Gaunt School, Peter Sanderson, said: "We're very pleased. The students got some really good results.

"It's a credit to all the hard work by the students, teachers and parents. It's the third year that we've achieved our best-ever GCSE results."