PUPILS and staff at The Chase were celebrating a good year this week after the publication of the Key Stage 3 exam results.

The exams, which test pupils in science, maths and English, show the progress they have made between the last year of primary school and the third year of secondary school.

The results for The Chase show above-average pro-gress, with pupils a term ahead of the target standard.

Kevin Peck, head of the school, said he was delighted at the results and felt it was the perfect end to the year.

"We have had a cracking year. The GCSE results were the best we've ever had and the Key Stage 3 results were just the best we've ever had. Everyone has worked very hard and we're delighted," he said.

Newent Community School and John Masefield High School in Ledbury have also progressed slightly further than the required standard.

Rob Johnston, assistant head teacher at John Masefield, said they were very pleased and put the good results down to two schemes the school has started this year.

The first of these is using sixth formers as learning assistants to year nine pupils; the second is an ongoing project that looks at how children learn and the best ways to help them.

Dyson Perrins, Hanley Castle School and Queen Elizabeth High School in Bromyard did not progress quite as far as would have been expected in the tests.

The figures are usually published alongside the GCSE results, but have been published separately for the first time this year to highlight the importance of the early years of secondary education.

Independent schools are not included in the Key Stage 3 performance tables.

Several changes were made to the tests for 2003.

The tests included three papers in English, testing pupils' abilities in reading, writing and Shakespeare.

The maths papers this year included more questions assessing the use and application of maths.

And the science papers focused on pupils' understanding of the use of scientific evidence.

The Chase speech day - see page 12