Criticism of literacy and numeracy standards after the publication of results for GCSE examinations bypassed schools in east Surrey which celebrated outstanding achievements last week.

Most candidates in England and Wales failed to gain at least C grades in English and maths but several local schools reached the Government benchmark.

Blenheim High School in Epsom was proud that almost half of its pupils achieved the required standard. The school far exceeded the national pass rate at grades A* to C, which rose for the 18th successive year to 62.4 per cent.

Teresa Leach, the headteacher, said: "I'm delighted that the hard work of students and staff over the past two years has paid dividends."

Most schools' results read like a roll-call of academic excellence. The proportion of GCSEs passed at grade C and above was 91 per cent at Rosebery School in Epsom. Three students there achieved 10 A* passes and 12 obtained six or more A* passes.

The most notable individual performance was at Glyn Technology School in Ewell. One year eight boy was placed in the top five in the country for GCSE French after scoring an A*.

Ewell Castle School surpassed previous records by up to 10 percentage points, as 93.8 per cent of exams taken by 65 students were awarded at least a C.

With an overall pass rate of 98 per cent, the Beacon School in Banstead improved significantly on its performance last year.

The proportion of GCSEs passed also rose, to 99.1 per cent, at Therfield School in Leatherhead. Top achiever was Nick Commandeur, a pupil originally from the Netherlands, awarded 13 A* to C grades.

At St Andrew's Catholic School in Leatherhead 79 per cent of students gained five or more top grades. At Epsom College more than half the candidates got at least an A.

One discordant note was sounded by Epsom and Ewell High School which, although pleased with provisional results, has queried marks for classical studies and sports studies. Staff were taken aback when pupils awarded an A* for coursework achieved only a D grade overall.