A DARLINGTON school is celebrating after its GCSE results ranked it in the top five state schools in the country.

Last year, a 95 per cent of students at Carmel College achieved the national benchmark of five A* to C grades at GCSE, making the college the country’s top voluntarily aided Catholic school in the Government’s recently released league tables.

According to the progress measure used by the Government to determine the proportion of pupils making the expected amount of progress for their age, a further 99 per cent of Carmel College students made their expected progress in English.

Principal Maura Regan said: “Statistics and league tables are important, however it is our culture of personalised learning that allows every child to achieve, which in turn produces a high ranking position nationally.

“Such is the culture and I am proud of the fact that children leave Carmel with so much more than just outstanding examination results.”