Jo Richardson School emerged as one of the best secondaries in Barking and Dagenham in league tables published today.

The school in Gale Street, Dagenham, enjoyed a double success with the highest A-level score last year and was also among the 200 best improved schools in the country for GCSE results.

Its A-level average point score per student was 834.2, compared to 655.7 in Barking and Dagenham and 733.0 in England last year.

In addition, the proportion of its GCSE pupils who secured at least five A* to Cs jumped by 23 percentage points from 35 per cent to 58 per cent in the last three years, making it one of the best improved in England.

Headteacher Ges Smith said: “We are delighted for the students at Jo Richardson School. It is a testimony to their hard work and focus over the past three years.

“These improvements have insured that our students are able to access the best possible pathways into further and higher education.

“Our sixth form results are some of the best in the country and considering we have only had a sixth form for four years, they are results we are extremely proud of.”

Meanwhile, pupils at All Saints School in Terling Road, Dagenham, bagged the best GCSE results with a 72 per cent score, compared to 58.6 per cent in Barking and Dagenham.

And Eastbury Comprehensive in Hulse Avenue, Barking, had the best GCSE improvements in Barking and Dagenham.

Its GCSE scores jumped by 28 percentage points in three years, from 38 per cent in 2009 to 66 per cent in 2012, also making the school one of the 200 most improved in the country.

Warren School in Whalebone Lane North, Chadwell Heath, received the lowest GCSE and A-levels results in Barking and Dagenham.

Department for Education statistics show that 39 per cent of its GCSE pupils had five or more 5 A*-Cs and the A-level average point score per student was 597.0 in 2012.

But headteacher Francois Van Rensburg stressed that a national Access to Sixth Form Performance and Assessment (Panda) report published by school inspectorate Ofsted showed his students came from establishments with disproportionately low educational performance.

He said: “If you look at the Panda report, which gives an idea of the ability of the students who join the sixth form, we have a disproportionate amount of students who have an average point score that is lower than the national average.

“The average point score is a very crude assessment. We are disappointed with the GCSE results but we had the English marking fiasco last year, which had a huge impact on our results.”