AN East Lancashire high school has left the Government National Challenge programme a year early after its exam results proved its hard work had paid off.

Rhyddings Enterprise and Business School, Oswaldtwistle, has received confirmation that it is no longer part of National Challenge, which threatened all schools involved with closure if fewer than 30 per cent of pupil did not gain 5A* to C grades including English and maths.

When the programme launched, bosses had warned schools they would not automatically leave the scheme ifthey reached the benchmark grades and those that close were told they would reopen as academies in 2011.

Paul Trickett head of the Haworth Street school hardwork and new initiatives had produced the turnaround.

Amongst the initiatives introduced were:

  • GCSE students beginning to revise for their exams as soon as they return to school in September;
  • Allowing students who have a flair for a subject to prepare for GCSEs early if they are capable of gaining good grades;
  • Creating programmes for pupils based on their individual capabilities.

This year 120 students will be sitting their full English GCSE either a year or sixth months early as a result of the changes the school has put in place to raise standards.

As a result the school has pushed up its 24 per cent pass rate results in 2007 to 45 per cent in this year’s compulsory Government tests.

Mr Trickett said: “It’s great getting rid of the pressure of National Challenge. We’re elated. It has been a long hard challenge.”