MOLODETS! OTLICHNO; (That's Russian for Well Done, Love FOUR YEARS AGO, ANA COULDN'T SPEAK A WORD OF ENGLISH. TODAY, SHE'S PASSED 11 GCSEs WITH SIX OF THEM AT 'A' GRADE

Byline: By JANE WOODHEAD Education Reporter

THE number of Merseyside students scoring top GCSE grades rose again this year.

Knowsley saw a huge improvement in grade A to C passes, with 72% in some schools.

At St Edmund Arrowsmith RC high school in Whiston, the most improved in the borough, the number of children with five or more A to C passes, rose from 53% last year to 72%.

In St Helens, the overall pass rate rose by 7%.

The overall percentage improvement in Wirral, Liverpool and Sefton was unconfirmed but education officials were confident of a significant increase.

Nationally the continuing rise in top grades has again led …