THE John Masefield High School in Ledbury has performed better than average in the school performance tables, published this week.

In the measure of a 'good' set of GCSEs - five in total including English and Maths, the John Masefield recorded a total of 71 per cent for the number of students achieving this standard.

This compares favourably with the national average of 66.1 per cent.

Newent Community School achieved 58 per cent.

The school's Vice Principal, Rhys Phillips said he was pleased with progress and the direction the school was taking, under a new head, and he added: "We look forward to improvements on our results next year, as well."

Queen Elizabeth High School in Bromyard recorded a figure of 47 per cent, but headteacher, Martin Farmer said he understood this was to be upgraded to 50 per cent, following a review.

Mr Farmer added: "We are going in the right direction and did a good job with the students we had, and we have done better than expected. We are really happy.

"The Government has recognised positive progress at our school for the second year in a row."