Shelley College will be challenging some of the grades given to their students.

Principal John McNally says some papers have been marked too harshly.

Mr McNally said: “There were some concerns with the inconsistency of coursework moderation by examination boards with some figures marked down by boards.There seems to be a lack of consistency with individual moderators. Many of our teachers have accurately marked coursework for many years and are then told they have been too lenient. We will certainly be challenging some of the grades and expect many to improve even further.”

At the college 81% passed the new, tougher GCSE in English (at grade 4 and above) and 75% reaching the same standard in mathematics.

Mr McNally added: “The introduction of the new style GCSE appears to have gone smoothly at Shelley College and I am grateful to teachers for the hard work they have put in to make sure our students were as well prepared as possible.”

There were some exceptional performances from individuals with 25 students achieving eight or more top A*, A, 9, 8 or 7 grade passes.

At Kirklees College the number of English and maths GCSE students successfully passing has increased by 52%.

More than 600 students have passed their maths and English resits despite previously failing them in school and despite the introduction of a new numerical grading system being in place for the first time in England.

Kirklees College principal Marie Gilluley said: “We are really pleased that an increasing number of our students have got this critical qualification behind them, but my message to all students not getting the results they’d hoped for at GCSE or A-level, is not to panic.

“Talk to your school and talk to us at Kirklees College about progressing to further education courses, apprenticeships or Higher Education degree-level programmes. We are enrolling now.”

Rastrick High School found its new star pupil. Ella Fitt gained the top grade 9 in English, English literature and maths.

Under the new grading system it made her one of only 2,000 students in the country to achieve the grade in three subjects.

Ella, who also got seven A*s and a distinction* in IT, said: “I am really happy and very proud of myself. I did not think anyone in Calderdale would get the new grade 9 and I cannot believe I got it in all three subjects."

Other pupils at the Brighouse school performed well too, including Sean Reilly, an aspiring science teacher, Mohammed Sulaiman, an apsiring pharmacist and Molly Dodson.

Overall, 73% of pupils achieved five A*-C grades.

Headteacher Steve Evans said: “These are the best results ever achieved by the school, with a very pleasing factor being that we have the highest percentage of top grades ever achieved. These outstanding results demonstrate the hard work of our students, support of their parents and the dedication and expertise of our fantastic staff.”

At Heckmondwike Grammar more than 99% Year 11 students securing at least five good GCSE grades with over 76% getting five or more A/A* or 9-7 grades.

Abigail Aust and Caitlin Pugh achieved 12 GCSEs at grade 9 or A* with Zahrah Sufi, Camille McKie and Eleanor Matley-Waite all achieving 11 GCSEs at grade A*, 8 or 9. Gaining 10 GCSEs at grade A*, 8 or 9 were Sammy Ali, Caitlin Barker, Kyle Dai, Raina D’Souza, Sienna Haynes, Amal Said, Sara Saloo and Ammara Siddique.