KENT’S secondary schools are celebrating another record-breaking year after Government league tables showed classroom standards are improving faster than the national rate.

The publication of the league tables for GCSE show that, as in previous years, Kent can lay claim to some of the best-performing schools in the country.

There have also been significant improvements at some of the county’s poorer schools.

The number of pupils passing five or more GCSE exams at grades A* to C last year rose from 55.8 per cent to 59.8 per cent, an increase of four per cent. Nationally, GCSE passes at grades A* to C rise by 3.4 per cent to 57.1 per cent.

The number of pupils in Kent passing five or more GCSE passes at grades A to G also went up, rising to 92.2 per cent in 2005 compared to 90.2 per cent the previous year.

However, separate data published by the Department for Education reveals that when maths and English are included in the statistics, the average pass rate at grades A* to C falls by ten per cent to 47.1 per cent.

The data has been published in response to fears that some schools may be steering pupils away from more academically testing subjects and using vocational qualifications that can equate to four GCSE passes to boost their standing.

County education chiefs were delighted by the results but acknowledged more focus was needed on maths and English.

Cllr John Simmonds, KCC’s cabinet member for education, said: “This is a tribute to the hard work done at schools and the effort put in by students.”

He insisted schools were not exploiting the system to boost their standing in the tables.

“Sometimes it is difficult to turn students on to the curriculum, so schools will find areas of the syallabus that does excite them. For some students, passing an exam in whatever subject can give a tremendous confidence boost.”

But while Kent schools are doing better than the national average for GCSE passes, they continue to fall marginally short of the national average for post-16 results, covering A and AS exam passes and some vocational courses.

There, the average point score per student was 273.5 compared to 277.6.

The “value added” indicator in the league tables, showing how well pupils progress from the age of 11, when they take Key Stage 2 tests, to the time they take GCSEs (Key Stage 4) show Kent schools, on average, are in the middle 20 per cent of schools nationally.