A THURROCK school has been beaten other schools to become the 34th top school in the country for GCSE results.

Harris Academy, Mayflower Road, Chafford Hundred has also been named the top school in Thurrock for the progress made by students at the school.

The way that students’ GCSE performance is looked at has changed this year.

The proportion of students achieving five good GCSEs has been replaced by new measures. The main one for this year is called Progress 8.

Progress 8 looks at the progress made by students across eight key subjects between joining a school in Year 7 and when they sit their GCSEs, compared to other schools with similar intakes.

Harris Academy’s children's Progress 8 score is plus 0.72, also known as well above average according to the Department for Education.

Nicola Graham, the academy’s principal, said she is so pleased with the news.

She added: “Our GCSE results are consistently excellent, but this means a whole lot more when students are making great progress during their time at school.

"I am so glad for our students and staff, who fully deserve this local and national recognition. I think that this shows how hard the children and staff have been working.

"These results also show how well the staff and teachers know their subjects but also how they take the time to make sure that every student has the support, guidance and help that they need.

"We also have very supportive parents which is always great."

Ms Graham said the school has been doing well for a few years now.

She added: "The children are also very proud of themselves, I think this sort of achievement really helps them to have high expectations of themselves.

"I just think that it is such great news for our school and for Thurrock as a whole."