Pupils and staff are celebrating after GCSE league tables found they made more progress than was expected.

Both Ormiston Rivers Academy in Burnham and Plume Academy in Maldon recorded good results for student progress.

Rankings released by the Department for Education last week use the government’s new Attainment 8 and Progress 8 systems, which show the development students have made since leaving primary school.

Students at Orimston Rivers Academy achieved an average Progress 8 score of 0.11 meaning on average each pupils achieved an extra 0.11 of a grade per subject than predicted at the end of Key Stage 3.

The school also achieved an average Attainment 8 score of 45.2 with 33 per cent of pupils achieving a grade five or above in English and maths.

At Plume the Progress 8 score was 0.02 and Attainment 8 was 45.8 with 34 per cent of pupils getting grade 5 or higher in maths and English.

Plume headteacher Carl Wakefield said: "My colleagues and I were positively delighted with our results at both GCSE and A level last summer.

“This was primarily because of the significant improvements across the board and as verified in the publication of the provisional performance tables.

“However, as we know, such results and associated improvements do not manifest by themselves, and these came about as a result of a huge amount of hard work.

“Nevertheless, there remains a great deal of work to still to do and I can assure the Maldon community that my colleagues and I will continue to drive this improving picture.

“However, building on a foundation where in essence the near 280 students who made up Year 11 last year secured a third of a grade higher on every single one of the near 3,000 individual examinations taken last summer at GCSE is a very strong one on which to do so.”

A spokesperson for Ormiston Rivers Academy said they expected to see even better results when the final data is published in the New Year.

She said: “We are delighted that the provisional GCSE data confirms the strong results our students achieved this summer and the value we add to students’ education during their time at the academy.

“We are proud to be delivering a high standard of education, ensuring that every student has the opportunity to fulfil their potential.”

Thurstable School in Tiptree recorded a Progress 8 score of -0.03 and an Attainment 8 score of 45.7.

In total 38 per cent of pupils got grade five or above in maths and English.

William de Ferrers School in South Woodham Ferrers recorded a below average Progress 8 score of -0.41.

It recorded an Attainment 8 score of 44.1 with 34 per cent of pupils getting grade five or above in maths and English.