GCSE results in England and Wales have improved again this year with almost one in five exam entrees being awarded top grades A or A*. The proportion of students achieving grade C also rose by 1,2% to 62.4% nationwide, while only 1.9% failed their exams. Boys' results improved more rapidly than girls results although girls continued to do better.

The highest performing part of the country was Northern Ireland, where grades A* to C were awarded to 71.7% of entries from candidates there, 62.3% of Welsh entries and 62.1% of English entries. The statistics, which were published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), an umbrella group responsible for grading in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, revealed that there has been a steady increase in the number of students taking physics, biology, chemistry and single science. JCQ director, Ellie Johnson Searle, said: "Students and their teachers can be justifiably proud of the improved results this year, with good performance overall and in the key subjects of English and mathematics.”

For the first time in the London borough of Hackney, the number of students gaining A*-C grades rose to 51%, reaching its “historic 50% barrier,” the jump in performance marks a change to he time when only 31% of Haringey students achieved grades A*-C in 2001. In Haringey too there was improvement, students celebrated their “best ever” results, where almost 54% of students scored five A*to C grades.  In Islington provisional figures released by the council, 47 per cent of students in Islington achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* - C and, it is expected that this provisional figure will rise when the results are confirmed by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) in January 2007. Islington Councillor Ursula Woolley, Executive Member for Children and Young People said: "We've come a long way since 2000, when only 26.5 per cent of students achieved five or more A*-C grades.

In the Southbank Lewisham celebrated after breaking through its target of 51.5%; the borough claimed to outstrip the country with this years score of 54%. Lewisham Mayor Steve Bullock said: “These results, coming on the back of such excellent A levels last week, shows that Lewisham’s schools are going from strength to strength.” Meanwhile in Southwark 50% of the borough’s pupils obtained grades A*-C, an increase of three percent from last year but north and south of the Thames grades are still below the national average of 62.1%.

Among the individual successes in Haringey was 16 year old Ezgi Sil who was awarded  the top of her year at Northumberland Park Community School.  Ezgi achieved five A*s in business communication systems, business studies, English literature, French and Turkish along with six As, three Bs and one C. Asked if her results were as she expected, Ezgi said: “I was in shock when I saw my results – I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t expecting it.  My friends and my teachers were really happy for me.” Ezgi now plans to go to college to study A-levels in law, psychology, sociology and economics.