Three schools in the Keighley district are celebrating after posting strong results in tests for 14-year-olds.

Pupils at Parkside, Cullingworth, Holy Family, Keighley, and South Craven, Cross Hills, achieved scores way above the national average for Key Stage 3, according to results published yesterday by the Department for Education and Skills.

However, Greenhead High School was ranked a lowly 27th out of 29 schools in the Bradford district and among the worst 200 schools in the country.

Oakbank School came 14th in the district.

The schools were rated according to the percentage of pupils gaining level five or above in each of the subjects -- English, science and maths.

Around 80 per cent of pupils at Parkside, Holy Family and South Craven achieved level five in each of the three tests. In contrast, just 27 percent of Greenhead students achieved it in the science test.

Dr Tony Rickwood, head teacher at Parkside School said he was delighted at the results.

"I think it's a very commendable achievement. We have consolidated our performance at Key Stage 3 as one of the best performing schools in the district. I'm pleased for both the students and staff whose efforts have been rewarded. The results are particularly impressive when you consider we have a high proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and special needs in the school."

Conor Davis, head teacher of Holy Family, said: "We're very pleased for our students and staff but like all results we treat them with a pinch of salt. All the schools in the area are working hard and the tests do seem to be driving up standards."

There was some comfort for Greenhead in the value added score -- a measure of how pupils have improved since Key Stage 2 tests at the age of 11. Scores around 100 are the average nationally.

Greenhead achieved an average of 99.6 -- more than Oakbank and Holy Family -- which shows its pupils are progressing at roughly the same rate as other schools in the district.

Overall, the Bradford district was ranked among the bottom education authorities in the country, languishing 130th out of 149 local education authorities.

Head teacher at Oakbank School, Chris Thompson added: "Following on from the excellent results at GCSE, these results are a good building block for the future and are testament to the hard work of students and staff.

"And while the league tables may be of some interest generally, what is more important is the progress of individual pupils to parents and teachers."