GIRL power has helped make history at Southampton's oldest school.

King Edward VI, Shirley, for centuries an all-boys school, is today reporting record GCSE results - thanks to its first ever group of Year 11 girls.

Alexa Maddison was one of four pupils - three girls and a boy - who scored an incredible ten A grades.

She was one of more than 50 girls who joined the independent school in 1994 when a decision to go co-ed ended a male-dominated era stretching back to 1553.

Alexa, 16, said: " There's been a bit of pressure on us to do well, but the teachers have been really supportive."

Fellow pupil Emma Hilliard, who passed eight A and two A grades, said: "I'm delighted with the results. It's good for the future. I'm hoping to go to Cambridge and then become a barrister in Southampton."

The girls' year head, Frank Winter, was delighted with the success of both sexes. He said: "They've done exceptionally well. It reflects their very positive attitude through the two years of the GCSE process."

Most boys were pleased to have girls in the school. Richard Chalk, who matched Emma's grades, said: "It's good to get different opinions from people, though it's more polit-ically correct now."

The school's A to C pass rate, among some 140 entrants, was 98.7 per cent, up 2.3 per cent on last year.

Teenagers across the South today scooped a record-breaking crop of GCSE results. Schools are reporting pass rates up on last year and better than the national average.

But their success comes as national politicians clash over calls for a review of the GCSE system.

Teachers' leaders in Hampshire insist exams are not getting easier despite the year-on-year improvement.

John Gawthorpe, county spokesman for the National Union of Teachers, said: "At this time of year it seems to be fashionable for people to say that standards must be falling or tests must be getting easier, but parents and pupils who have got their results today will know for a fact that this isn't true.

"They know the pressure they've been under.'' Geoff Lucas, deputy head at King's School in Winchester, where pupils lifted their A to C pass rate from 71 per cent to 80, said there was no evidence of falling standards.

He said: "We are getting better at identifying the pupils who are under-achieving, and getting better at putting remedial strategies in place to turn them around.

"We use National Foundation for education Research tests in the first year and Year Nine to identify potential and set it against performance.

"We work with pupils and their parents and prepare action plans so they perform to potential."

Hampshire County Council's education supremo, Andrew Seber, echoed his com-ments, saying more students than ever were taking GCSEs and achieving greater success.

He said: "There are bound to be fluctuations from year to year and from school to school but the overall trend in recent years has been upwards.

"This has been another year of excellent work and I con-gratulate not only the students but everyone else involved."

For the second year running, more than 40 per cent of pupils at Cantell School in Southampton scored five or more A to C grades.

Headteacher David Burge said: "This year's exam results provide us with another record which reflects the strength of our school."

Nationwide results show another record pass rate, with the percentage of entries of C grades and above up by 1.1 per cent to 55.8 per cent.

It is the tenth successive improvement in the top grade banding - and the biggest for five years.

The proportion of entries achieving a pass of any grade rose from 97.7 per cent to 98 per cent.

Education Secretary David Blunkett hailed the achievement, saying it showed "good progress" towards national targets.

And he rejected a call by Tory education spokesman James Clappison for a review of GCSE exams in order to ensure stan-dards were being maintained.

See tomorrow's Echo for further results coverage.

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