Teenagers across north Norfolk celebrated collecting their GCSE results today as many of the district's schools continued to raise the standard for the secondary school tests.

Teenagers across north Norfolk celebrated collecting their GCSE results today as many of the district's schools continued to raise the standard for the secondary school tests.

Cromer High was one of the first schools to release its scores as it recorded significant improvements on last year's results.

The number of students achieving A* to C grades including English and maths rose by 8 percentage points, setting a new recorded for the Norwich Road school.

Nationally, results improved yet again overall, with two thirds of exams awarded at least a C grade.

But there was a drop in the number of English entries being awarded at least a C, and the number of pupils taking a foreign language continued its steady decline.

Overall, 21.6pc of grades were awarded an A* or A, an increase of 0.9pc on last year. More than 67.1pc of entries were at grades A*-C, up from 65.7pc last summer.

The overall pass rate at A*-G rose to 98.6pc from 98.4pc last year.

North Norfolk's results:

AYLSHAM HIGH

60pc (66) (59) (45)

71pc (72) (62) (55)

'We have seen a really good, positive year group. They have exceeded the targets set for them and achieved the second best ever set of results for the school. They have worked very hard and we are proud of them. One stand out result is the 84pc of A* to C grades in Maths and the 100pc A* to C grades in Statistics, which was taken by the top Maths set." - headteacher Duncan Spalding.

BROADLAND HIGH, HOVETON

58pc (58) (63) (62)

73pc (67) (68) (69)

'We are delighted to report the school's best ever results. This supports the successful Ofsted visit from June and we would like to congratulate all our students. Six students achieved 10 or more A* and A grades, and 18 students successfully completed an AS module in calculus as part of our specialist school provision in maths and computing. We look forward to celebrating with our students, staff and parents at the awards evening in the new term."- headteacher Carol Dallas.

CROMER HIGH

47pc (39) (37) (37)

54pc (49) (46) (50)

"We are very pleased with this year's set of GCSE results which clearly demonstrate that the school is continuing to make improvements and focus on raising standards. Our headline figure of 47pc including English and Maths is the highest the school has ever achieved and the first time the school has surpassed the agreed target set with the local authority. Staff have worked tremendously hard supporting students throughout their GCSE studies with comprehensive personal learning programmes. The students have responded tremendously well to the mentoring and learning partnerships developed, they should be very proud of what they have achieved. The school is not sitting back and we continue to develop the quality of learning and teaching focusing on supporting students across the school and we continue to strive to raise standards for our young people." - headteacher Glyn Hambling.

GRESHAM'S SCHOOL, HOLT

98pc (96) (98.6) (97)

100pc (98) (100) (95.5)

'I am extremely pleased with this year's GCSE results which reflect not only the commitment of the pupils and teachers but the school's continuing drive to improve educational standard at all levels. Overall the combined results at IB Diploma, A and GCSE Level represent the school's best academic results ever.' - headmaster Philip John.

NORTH WALSHAM HIGH

TBCpc (46) (43) (36)

61pc (63) (50) (44)

'The class of '09 are celebrating results which demonstrate the excellent progress they have made. For the second year in succession over 60pc of North Walsham students have gained at least 5 A*-C. It's always a pleasure to see children's faces when they recognise that all the hard work has been worth it.' - headteacher Caroline Brooker.

SHERINGHAM HIGH

55pc (59) (46) (51)

61pc (60) (52) (56)

"Another pleasing set of results. There have been some outstanding individual student performances with one student, Adam Beasey, achieving 9 A* and 1 A grades. Our students are a wonderful group of young people and they and the staff deserve congratulations for all their hard work." - headteacher Tim Roderick.

STALHAM HIGH

43pc (45) (35) (45)

52pc (54) (46) (58)

"We have done remarkably well in improving numbers of A* and A grades, from 60 in 2008 to 105 this year. That is a result of an additional focus on the high attaining youngsters. I am also very pleased with the five students who got A* and A grades in all three science subjects of physics, biology and chemistry." - headteacher Melinda Derry.

WOOD-DENE SCHOOL, AYLMERTON

88pc (94) (82) (100)

94pc (94) (82) (100)

"This has been another excellent year for this non-selective school. The results are a great credit to the hard work and dedication of students and staff." - principal Diana Taylor.