A SCHOOL in west Suffolk is the top performing state school in the county for students gaining five A* to C-grades at GCSE or equivalent including English and maths.

Vicky Neale, headteacher of County Upper School in Bury St Edmunds, said the school community was “delighted” to reach this milestone this year with 74% of candidates achieving the benchmark standard.

On the school’s success, she said: “We know our pupils very well. We have an excellent staff both in terms of their teaching ability and also in terms of their willingness to give extra support and we are very focused on providing a good all round education for our students.

“And I do think the secret is just to run an outstanding school and put all your efforts into teaching every child well and putting in a huge programme of sport, music and extra curriculum stuff so the results follow and your standing in the tables follows.”

She added the school consistently did well in the league tables.

“We are very much hoping now Matthew Taylor, who is leading the Raising the Bar initiative, will have a detailed chat with us. I don’t think it’s just about being top today, although we are delighted with that. It’s about consistency year on year.”

Raising the Bar is an initiative which aims to improve the quality of education in the county. The RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) are working with Suffolk County Council to support the scheme.