A TOP performance by Hull's sixth form students last summer has pushed the city even higher up the national league tables.

The city now stands at 32 out of 149 local authorities, up from 34 last year.

Hull's average points score per candidate of 753.4 is a rise of ten points on the previous year and puts it well above the national average of 744.8.

Leading the way in Hull was Hymers College, which achieved an impressive score of 1,142.3 per student.

The independent school had a 100 per cent pass rate in its A levels last summer.

Wyke Sixth Form College's score was 842.2 points, up from 832.5 in 2009. Dr Richard Smith, principal of the Grammar School Road college in west Hull, said: "This success doesn't come from any one action, you have to keep working at every aspect of what you do with young people and central to that is making them and what they do the focus.

"We get the young people to believe in themselves from day one."

St Mary's College, in Cranbrook Avenue, west Hull, which recently became the first secondary school in the city to achieve outstanding status from Ofsted, also saw results leap to 788.2 from 760.7 in 2009.

The pass rate rose from 97.2 per cent to a 99.7 per cent.

Ged Fitzpatrick, head teacher at St Mary's, said: "We have a great team right across the school at all ages.

"Our sixth form team in particular have worked really hard to support those youngsters in their studies."