PUPILS at Walton-le-Dale High School are in a class of their own after becoming the second most improved school across the county.

Pupils at the Brindle Road school were given full marks in the Government's education league tables this year.

The results, released last week, are a measure of pupils' GCSE successes and 41 of the school's 103 year 11 students achieved grades between A* and C across the board.

English teacher Joy Ellis said: "We are delighted and put the success down to hard work by the staff, parents and pupils."

During the last year there have been a number of improvements at the school including a state-of-the-art design technology block for children to use hi-tech computer systems for woodwork and metalwork. A new language laboratory has also been installed and the maths suite has been refurbished.

Miss Ellis added: "We are lucky enough to have some great new facilities and hope to do even better next year."

All county council run schools achieved higher than the national average in the league tables.

Cabinet member for education and young people, Councillor Alan Whittaker, said: "Performance tables are an important source of information for parents on how well schools and their pupils are doing.

"The results show that Lancashire schools have continued to maintain a lead over the average for England as a whole.

"I encourage parents to visit a school and see for themselves how they deal with pupils, to get a feel for the ethos and decide if it's right for their child."