IT has already been singled out as Blackburn with Darwen’s best-performing school for GCSEs and A-levels ­— and now Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School has been named number one in the country for the progress pupils make.

Its ranking was revealed following the release of the Government secondary school performance tables.

In the ‘Progress 8’ score measure, the school achieved a record breaking value-added score of 2.16, making it the number one school for the fourth year running. The measure reflects the value that schools add to the progress of students compared to their peers of similar prior ability across the country.

The results also showed that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds go on to achieve strong results.

Pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, those living in low-income households or who were in care also achieved significantly better results at the school, with more than 80 per cent of these pupils achieving a ‘strong pass’ in English or maths. Nationally, only a quarter of disadvantaged students achieve a ‘strong pass’ in English and maths.

The Government data also confirmed the school is ranked one of the highest in the country for results by students with low prior achievement at primary school. A total of 50 per cent of students with low prior achievement achieved a ‘standard pass’ in English and maths. Nationally, only 11 per cent of such students achieve this result.

Hamid Patel CBE, Chief Executive of Star Academies which runs the school, said: “Despite harder exams, our amazing students have worked really hard to achieve life-changing outcomes. They owe a lot to their devoted parents and our fantastic teachers and support staff. However, it is not just about excellent grades. We are also proud that our young women have developed good character, are informed and responsible citizens and have a commitment to serving their communities passionately.

“This is a special school, not least because of the work ethic and sense of community that is demonstrated by teachers, support staff and the wonderful young women who study there. We are particularly proud that those of our girls from the most impoverished backgrounds or who struggled in primary school have progressed so much.”

The school was ranked number four for the numbers of pupils achieving the English Baccalaureate ­— made up of English, mathematics, history or geography, two sciences and a language.