GWENT pupils were celebrating some impressive GCSE results yesterday despite the Welsh overall pass rate for grades A* to G dropping 0.3 per cent from 97.9% in 2002.

Goff Davies, head teacher at Newport's Hartridge High School, said he was "proud and pleased" as the number of students with five or more passes grades A-C was up five per cent on last year.

Bassaleg Comprehensive School bucked the national trend of females pupils performing better than their male counterparts.

The number of Bassaleg boys who achieved five passes or more at C grade or above was three per cent higher at 71 than the 68 per cent of girls who managed the same.

In Torfaen, Lara Blagojevic from Croesyceiliog Comprehensive, achieved ten straight A*s whilst Lauren Jones, also from Croesyceiliog, achieved 8A*s and one A.

GCSE pupils from Jenna Brookfield's year group at Abersychan Comprehensive did "amazingly well" despite the tragic death of their schoolmate, according to head teacher Geoff Green.

With 37 per cent of entrants gaining at least five grades A*-C, Mr Green said: "The death of Jenna really affected the school, but the pupils have held up very well."

Jenna's body was discovered last November, more than three months after she went missing from her home.

Her stepfather, Michael Baldwin, was jailed for life last month. When she went missing, Jenna had been due to start her final year at Abersychan Comprehensive School to complete her GCSEs.

At Monmouth Comp-rehensive School, 66 percent of those who took GCSEs got five or more A* to C grades.

Many students were awarded exceptional grades with Matthew Berry achieving 11 passes with 10 at A* and one at Grade A.

Sara Clewett and Robert Green both achieved 11 passes with eight at A* and three students, Elizabeth Turley, Nina-Jade Griffiths and Jonathan Wilkinson were each awarded 12 passes with eight or more at A and A*. Kavita Chhiba, of Caldicot Com-prehensive, achieved nine A* and three As. She also achieved an A* in GCSE statistics last year.

Caldicot's examinations officer Maria Mallett said: "The results have surpassed our expectations."

At Chepstow Comprehensive School, Ashleigh Mathieson, from Pwllmeyric, achieved five A* and four As and Angharad Thomas, who lives in Shirenewton, bagged seven A*s and two As.

Around 65 per cent of pupils at Chepstow Comprehensive passed their GCSEs at A-C grade, which is 5 per cent up on last year. Heateacher John Barnbrook said: "There is a fantastic atmosphere here today."

King Henry VIII School in Abergavenny is boasting first class results with 41 per cent of pupils achieving at least one grade A or A*. Those top two grades accounted for 16.6 per cent of all the results at the school.

In Caerphilly, some pupils were celebrating record results - head teacher Allan Raybould at Newbridge Comprehensive said the A-C pass rate of 66 per cent was 5 per cent up on the figure from 2002. And at 21.6 per cent, the figure for A and A*s was the best Newbridge had ever achieved.

Indeed, 98% of pupils across Caerphilly borough achieved the overall pass rate of A* - G, an increase of 0.2% on last year.

Abertillery Comprehensive saw a 10 per cent improvement on last year's results for pupils attaining five or more passes grade A* -C.

Rhoda Lane achieved an outstanding score of seven A*s and two As. Brynmawr Comprehensive also had its fair share of success with 62 per cent A-C pass rate across all subjects.

Rachel Taylor bagged herself nine A*s and Craig Jenkins got seven A*s and two As.

Head teacher Clive Boulter said he was "delighted," adding, "We are up seven per cent on last year's numbers of pupils achieving five A-c grade passes, improvement like that is all you can ask for."

Risca Community Comp-rehensive School bucked a national trend with the boys outperforming the girls in their GCSE results.

Of the 45% of pupils who gained five or more A*/C GCSEs, just over half were boys.

Overall, the school improved on last year's GCSE results with 96% of pupils achieving five or more A to G grades.

Among the star pupils in the year are Darryl Morgan, of Maple Gardens, Risca, who got six As and four Bs and Jodie Farley of Dixon's Place, Risca, who got one A, six Bs and three Cs.

Janet Kingston, the school's headteacher, said: "We are very pleased because our results are up slightly on last year.

"The pupils have worked hard and they deserve their success." And the head boy at Pontllanfraith Comprehensive got 7A*s, 2 As and a B in his GCSEs. James Guthrie, who is 16, and lives at The Bryn, Pontllanfraith, is now going to Coleg Gwent at Crosskeys to study for his A-levels and hopes to become a vet.