North Yorkshire’s schools and colleges have again performed strongly in the national performance table rankings.

And topping the county table was Skipton Girls’ High – an academy school – where the average points score for GCSE pupils was 687.2 and for A-level students, it was 1000.1.

The town’s other selective school, Ermysted’s Grammar, finished second, with respective point scores of 514.7 and 975.8.

Both schools saw 99 per cent of their pupils achieve five or more A* to C grades at GCSE, including maths and English, compared to a national average of 59.2 per cent.

Jan Renou, executive headteacher of Skipton Girls, said: “The really important outcome is not the school’s statistics (however outstanding) but the success of our students, and the number who have gained the grades to take them successfully on to the next stage in their career.”

And head of academy Jenn Plews added: “As a school we are immensely proud of all our students’ personal achievements. I would like to recognise the unrelenting and highly successful drive for improvement to take the school ‘beyond outstanding’ from both staff and students alike.”

Giggleswick – a co-educational independent school – was 13th in table, with 76 per cent of pupils getting five or more good GCSE passes, including English and maths.

It achieved average points scores of 443.9 for GCSEs and 728.8 for A-levels.

South Craven School, at Cross Hills, finished mid-table in 25th position, with 66 per cent of its GCSE pupils achieving five A* to C grades, including maths and English and average points scores of 490.6 for GCSEs and 850.5 for A-levels.

Next in the table, in 39th place, was Settle College.

It saw 60 per cent of pupils achieving the benchmark five GCSEs, including maths and English, and respective points scores of 583.3 and 645.3.

Just four places below, in 39th spot, was Upper Wharfedale at Threshfield.

Fifty seven per cent of pupils obtained five good GCSEs, including maths and English, and an average points score of 552.5.

Aireville School – which was put into special measures in July – finished 51st out of 53 schools.

With an average points score of 459.4 and just 34 per cent of its pupils achieving the benchmark five or more A* to C grades at GCSE, including maths and English, it is deemed under performing by the Government.

Overall, North Yorkshire was 29th best performing authority in the country at GCSE and 31st at A-level County Coun Arthur Barker, executive member for schools said: “North Yorkshire has scored highly again. The figures show that the county’s schools prepare our young people very well for their next steps into training or further and higher education. This means they are able to access the full range of choices, including entry to the top universities..”

Across in Lancashire, West Craven High Technology College in Barnoldswick was 54th out of 92 schools.

Fifty nine per cent of pupils achieved the benchmark five good GCSE passes, including maths and English, and an average points score of 425.3.

In bottom position was the town’s Alternative School, which caters for young people who are not in mainstream education.

It had just 11 eligible pupils, with none obtaining the benchmark standard. The average points score was 5.5.