County's GCSE results are best in Wales

Denbighshire County Council has welcomed news that county's GCSE results in last summer's examinations were the best in Wales.

In 2008, 51.5% of pupils at Key Stage 4 achieved the Level 2 Threshold (5 GCSE A*- C or equivalent) which ranked Denbighshire 18th out of the 22 authorities in Wales.

In 2010, Denbighshire was ranked 19th. 

In contrast, the figure for 2012 was 82.7%, which ranked Denbighshire as the best performing at this level in the whole of Wales.

54.7% of pupils achieved Level 2 at Key Stage 4 including English or Welsh and Maths.

This placed Denbighshire 7th out of the 22 authorities. This is also in line with a target set by the council of being in the top ten best performing education authorities in Wales.

Councillor Eryl Williams, Cabinet Lead Member with responsibility for Education, said: "These results are a true reflection of the tremendous amount of hard work that has been going on over recent years to improve standards of education in Denbighshire.

"This is very much a team effort, with a commitment from councillors, education staff, headteachers, teaching staff, governors, parents and pupils to raise standards, which in turn has resulted in Denbighshire being the best education services in Wales.

"I'm truly proud that everyone has pulled together and the benefits are clear for everyone to see.

"An Estyn inspection report released earlier this year deemed Denbighshire's Education Service to be good, with educational leadership across all levels of the Council described as outstanding.

"This is a good day for education in Denbighshire. However, we will not rest on our laurels and our efforts to improve education even further in Denbighshire will continue."