NOVA Hreod Academy and Swindon Academy are celebrating being named the most improved schools in Swindon at GCSE level in 2015 today.

Department for Education league tables published today show that Nova Hreod saw the number of students gaining five or more A* to Cs double – from 31% in 2014 to 60% in 2015.

At Swindon Academy, the results rose from 40% to 53%.

Darren Barton, principal of Nova Hreod Academy, said: “We are thrilled with our standing in these latest tables which demonstrates how far Nova Hreod has come in the last few years.

"Whilst many schools across the country saw a dip in their results in 2015, we are particularly pleased to have doubled the number of students gaining five good GCSEs grades in just one year.

"As a team we all look forward to continuing and accelerating the progress which has been made.”

Ruth Robinson, principal of Swindon Academy, said: “We are very pleased with our GCSE results which are our best ever and show that the academy is making huge strides forward.

"For the number of students achieving five or more good GCSEs to increase by 13 percentage points in just one year is testament to the dedication and hard work of our students, staff, parents and carers.

"Our current Year 11s have been spurred on by the achievements of last year’s students and are working incredibly hard to achieve even better grades this summer.”

Principal of Lydiard Park Academy, Clive Zimmerman, said: “We’re really pleased, it’s our first year on top of the local league table and that’s the result of eight years hard work.

“We’re pleased to be up there.

“I think it’s just about being determined and keep working on every bit of the school, we’re always looking at what we can improve on.”

Other schools to receive a notable pass mark included The Ridgeway School and Sixth Form College with 63 per cent and Highworth Warneford School with 62 per cent.

Elsewhere, St Joseph's Catholic College got 58 per cent, The Commonweal School 54 per cent, Isambard Community School 50 per cent, Kingsdown School 49 per cent, The Dorcan Academy 43 per cent and Churchfields Academy 37 per cent.