SOUTHAMPTON teen-agers made it a fourth record-breaking year on the trot when they again posted the city's best ever GCSE exam results.

The announcement follows Hampshire's that scholars there had also beaten all previous years' performances.

The city's improvement in the number of pupils leaving school with five or more GCSEs at A* to C grades has continued to rise for the fourth year in a row.

This year the number of pupils who achieved at least five high grade exams in the city's secondary schools rose to 46 per cent from last year's 44.1 per cent.

Some of the city's schools celebrated considerable improvements with Bitterne Park, Chamberlayne Park, Millbrook Community, Redbridge Community, Weston Park Boys and Woodlands Community schools all increasing the five A* to C grades by approximately 10 percentage points.

Executive Director for Lifelong Learning and Leisure Ian Sandbrook said: "I am delighted that the achievements of Southampton students are continuing to improve.

"This can only happen through the hard work of our pupils, teachers and support staff and the city council's firm commitment to improving the standards of our children's education."

Notable successes included Bitterne Park. It reached the cusp of the national average for five or more top passes at 57 per cent, a hefty 11 point rise on last year.

Deputy head Gordon Smith said it was "beyond our wildest dreams".

He said: "Our science department got 68 per cent and we want to celebrate that too. It's a record-breaking year.

"Everyone has worked together and it's certainly made a difference."

Millbrook pupils also did well, pulling the school out of the government's Fresh Start target zone, where it risked being closed and then reopened in a bid to boost results. As it was, none of that was necessary, its figure of 25 per cent of youngsters getting the requisite five or more A* to C passes being more than enough to put smiles on the faces of education bosses and deputy head Carol Armitage.

She said: "It's an outstanding improvement and takes us out of the target group. We're delighted."

Redbridge Community School was home to another happy head teacher. Richard Schofield was overjoyed at his youngsters' performance, pushing up the five or more top passes figure from 32 per cent last year to a "best ever" 45 per cent.

For the full Southampton GCSE results table see today's Daily Echo.