Students at Penistone Grammar celebrated the school's best ever GCSE results with 80 per cent achieving a minimum of five Cs - including English and maths.

It means there has been a 21 per cent rise on last year, and the school has improved in every subject area.

There were 88 per cent of pupils who achieved an A* to C in English, while 84 per cent received a minimum of a C in maths.

Delighted principal Jo Higgins said: "The results are amazing - they're the best set of results in the history of Penistone, and as a community we're celebrating.

"The students and staff have shown incredible hard work and commitment and they deserve it. It's just brilliant."

Hoylandswaine girl Catherine Deacon, 16, smiled as she clutched her certificate, showing five A*s and five As.

"I'm relieved and pleased," she said. "I didn't expect to do this well."

Ceri Linton, 16, from Penistone, starts life at Greenhead College on Tuesday after picking up eight A*s and three As, and she will be joined by Leah Ainsworth, 16, from Silkstone, who achieved two A*s, five As and three Bs.

David O'Hara, head of the school's governing body, described the results as a 'springboard for the future'.

"It's what we've all been aiming for and it's absolutely tremendous," he said.