SUPER girl students at a Blackburn high school have taken three of the top five places nationally among candidates who sat this year's GCSE sociology examination.

And the national controversy over claims that pass marks have been systematically lowered to boost pass rates failed to take the shine from the achievements of St Wilfrid's High School A* pupils Jade Widdecombe, Sarah Howell and Charlotte Bevitt.

Fellow pupil Hannah Upton chalked up 10 A*s and headteacher David Whyte said 68 per cent of pupils had achieved five A*-C grades which was five per cent better than anticipated and a 10 per cent improvement on three years ago. "We are very pleased. It reflects the hard work of the pupils and staff," he added.

At St Bede's RC in Blackburn, Jennifer Byron achieved 11 A*s and was commended by the examination board for her performance in geography where she was in the top five candidates in the country.

Fifity-three per cent of pupils achieved five or more A*-C grades -- success which followed on from the school's highly-succesful Ofsted report this year.

Two pupils from the Burnley area were among 13 from Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Blackburn who achieved A* or A in all the subjects they sat. Joseph Brassington from Fence and Ronnie Tan from Reedley both achieved A* in eight exams.

Headmaster Dr David Hempsall praised "a highly satisfactory set of results." He added: "QEGS boys achieved A* to C in over 90 per cent of the papers they sat this summer, compared with the national average of under 58 per cent. "They have continued the upward trend in results at QEGS." Students at Ivy Bank High School in Burnley were today celebrating impressive performances, matching the school's best-ever performance with 41 per cent achieving five or more A* to C gardes and 96 per cent gaining exam passes.

Headteacher Stephen Ball said he was thrilled. "This year group has exceeded all our expectations and huge numbers of students have reached the very demanding targets that we set for them.

"It is further evidence that the Ofsted team which inspected the school last summer was absolutely right when it reported that the quality of the teaching in the school is a great strength."

Scott Summers schieved two A*s, six As and three Bs, while Daniel Foxcroft claimed an A*, seven As and three Bs. Jill Hargreaves was the oustanding girl, with four A*s, three As and three Bs. Beardwood High School in Blackburn achieved 30 per cent of pupils with grades A*-C. Eleven students gained 10 A*-C, 14 nine and 12 eight.

Pupils at Westholme School in Blackburn enjoyed a pass rate of 98 per cent A*-C, and 23 gained A or A* in all nine subjects taken.

Principal Lillian Croston said: "Following our excellent A-level results, it is good to see so many GCSE students gaining similar succes."

Francesca Scott of Blackburn was awarded one of the top five marks in Business Studies in the country out of 16,765 candidates. Kathryn Westley of Bromley Cross was awarded one of the top five marks in Maths.