A VILLAGE secondary school has been named the 53rd best in England and seventh in the East Midlands for improving its pupils' academic performance.

Giles Academy in Old Leake was placed in the lofty position when the Government released its latest set of statistics which are based on last summer's GCSE results. Value added is designed to show how well a school has helped its students progress since they arrived from primary school, taking into account their different starting points.

It is calculated by comparing each pupil's best eight GCSEs and an average is then worked out to give a score for the school based around a national average of 1,000.

Giles score was 1043.1 with the next best performing school in the area being Boston's Haven High Technology College on 1020.4.

Elsewhere, William Lovell School in Stickney posted a 1006.6 score, Boston High School's result was 1005.7, Boston Grammar 998.1, Kirton Middlecott 990.5 and the now defunct St Bede's Catholic Science College on 980.7.

Giles deputy headteacher Ian Widdows told the Target the school was "very proud" of the results and "what this says about the work of staff and students in the school."

He said: "It should give extra confidence to parents that we are continuing to do the right thing for their children.

"We will continue to work hard to adapt to the needs to each year group of students, and the changing national priorities, to provide our students with excellent qualifications which will give them opportunities for success in the future."

Mr Widdows pointed out that the Giles' score translated on average to each student leaving its Year 11 gaining nearly one full grade higher than expected in each of their best eight exam results.

He added: "I would also note the improvement of other local schools and their successes reflected in these league tables.

"It is fantastic to see how hard schools are working to give the young people of Boston the opportunities that they deserve."

In the table for the percentage of pupils gaining the equivalent of at least five A* to C GCSE passes including English and maths, it was Boston High that took the local top score with 97 per cent.

Boston Grammar had a 96 per cent success rate with Giles on 56, Haven High on 53, William Lovell on 42, Kirton Middlecott on 40 and St Bede's on 30.