THERE were smiles all round at Newport's St Julian's School after achieving record breaking GCSE results.

74 per cent of pupils gained five A* to C grades in all subjects - up 17 per cent on last year.

And the number of students achieving five GCSE grades A* to C including English and maths stands at 46 per cent - up three per cent on 2011.

It is the first set of GCSE results since Denise Richards took over as Headteacher last September.

She said: "We are extremely proud of all students and staff involved in these amazing results.

"It is especially pleasing to see such a big rise in the numbers achieving five A* to Cs. Well done to all. We have exciting plans to see further improvements year on year."

Departmental successes include 96 per cent of students gaining a GCSE A* to C grade in Religious Studies - up 21% from 2011.

Some 74 per cent of students achieved an A* - C grade in Geography, up 9 per cent from 2011, while 72 per cent achieved an A* to C grade in French, up 9 per cent on last year.

And the number of students achieving an A* - C grade in Maths rose by 4 per cent to 52 per