YOUNGSTERS who left school last summer performed better in their GCSEs than the national average.

Figures published today show that 70 per cent of children who sat exams got at least five GCSEs at grades A* to C, compared with 63.8 per cent nationally.

Bury Grammar School Girls Division got the highest pass rate — 97 per cent.

Next came Bury Grammar School Boys Division came next with 89 per cent followed by Darul Uloom Al Arabiya Al Islamiya with 88 per cent, St Gabriel’s RC on 80 per cent and Manchester Mesivta and St Monica’s RC jointly on 78 per cent.

The statistics also show that 56.9 per cent got at least five GCSEs including English and maths at grades A* to C, compared with 53.4 per cent nationally.

The same figure in Bury was 62.3 per cent in 2013, but figures have fallen in most categories in Bury and nationally.

Analysts have mainly put this down to a change in the way the figures are calculated.