More than 60 per cent of secondary school students in Hackney are meeting the Government’s “gold standard” in educational attainment.

Figures released by the Department of Education (DfE) show that 60.4 per cent of Hackney secondary schools students achieved five A* to C grades including English and Maths in 2015 - an improvement on the 2014 statistics.

The figures look even more promising when matched against England’s average of 54 per cent.

The City Academy in Homerton is the borough’s top performing school for average points achieved in GCSE results.

Principal Mark Emmerson believes the results are testament to the hard work that has been put in.

He said: “I am very pleased about the excellent progress being made at The City Academy.

“To be in the top five out of 6212 schools in the country for two years in a row is a testament to the hard work and dedication of both the staff and students here.

“We also have the best average GCSE grade of any school in Hackney and the best GCSE average points score which placed us as the top school in Hackney in ‘The Times’ good schools near you table.”

Mossbourne Community Academy in Lower Clapton also faired very well in the league tables.

The school scored highest in the borough for the amount of pupils attaining 5 A*-C grades.

Principal Peter Hughes said: “We are very pleased with the results again this year, we have never had fewer than 80 per cent of students attaining five A*-C grades since we opened.

“I am big believer in the one percentages, focusing on how we can just do things one percent better.

“Despite the constant changes to the performance tables, the school’s results have continued to be consistent.”

This is the last year schools will be judged on the basis of raw GCSE results.

Mr Emmerson and Mr Hughes both welcome the changes that will mean schools will be measured on a broader range of results across eight subjects from next year.

“I’m a big supporter of the progress 8 measure, it will give a true reflection of how the students are doing as it measures across all eight subjects,” Mr Hughes said.

Mr Emmerson said: “If we look forward to the new progress 8 measure that will be used next year and apply that measure to our 2015 results we are actually placed one place higher as the fourth best school in the country.

“We look forward to our next set of results and are hopeful that our first set of A level results will replicate that exceptional progress.”