By Matt Scorer

Derbyshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Education Mike Longden has praised Hope Valley College. 

The College smashed previous records with 82% of students achieving five A*-C grades - 10% higher than ever before - in this summers exams.

Mr Longden wrote: "Congratulations to all members of the school community for playing their part in ensuring that students at Hope Valley College achieve to the best of their abilities."

An exceptional 26% of all entries received either a grade of A or A* with 58% of students attaining at least one A or A*.

Mr. Longden drew attention to the fact the College's results were in the top 25% of schools nationally describing it as "a terrific achievement".

The College also recorded a respectable 3% increase in the number of students achieving 5 A*-C grades including English and Maths. The total number of students reaching this benchmark was 58%.

Mr. Longden wrote: "We are also pleased to see you have made further improvement at the tougher test of 5 A* - C including English and Mathematics and know that you are keen to accelerate progress against this achievement."

Principal Bernie Hunter said: "We are delighted to have our achievements noted by Mr. Longden and the community as a whole. Our results reflect the excellent curriculum we have in place for a fully comprehensive intake. Our fantastic GCSE results this year were the culmination of a lot of hard work and dedication from both staff and students. That hard work and high achievement deserves to be recognised as it is a credit to both the College and the individuals."