It has been another record-breaking year for Kent’s secondary schools - with students posting some of the best GCSE results recorded.

School league tables published today show another year of improving standards, with increases in exam passes being seen at a large number of the county's secondaries.

But amid the good news, there were some disappointments with the government tables showing a mixed picture for results in some subjects and persistent absence rates in Kent remaining stubbornly high compared to the national average.

Nearly one in six of all pupils passed five or more good GCSEs, with the number getting GCSEs at grades A* to C including English and maths rising to 56.8 per cent - nearly five per cent up on 2009 and above the national average of 55.2 per cent.

The percentage of pupils achieving five or more passes at grades A* to C in all subjects rose to nearly 80 per cent, compared to a national average of 76 per cent.

Just seven schools failed to pass the threshold set by the previous government for 30 per cent of pupils to achieve five or more good GCSEs. Education secretary Michael Gove has set a new benchmark of 35 per cent for schools.

For the first time, the tables record the number of pupils who have achieved passes across a broad range of subjects - the so-called English Baccalaureate.

This shows the percentage of pupils who pass at least five of the exams at grade C or above, including English, maths, one science, one foreign language and one humanity.