Top of the class: Helen Barnett celebrates 14 A*s and two As

Top schools are abandoning GCSEs in favour of courses that better stretch the brightest amid the biggest rise in top grades for 20 years.

Teenagers celebrated record-breaking results yesterday after passing more than one in five exams at grades A* and A and scoring Cs or better in two thirds.

But thousands more bright pupils than last year were excluded from the figures because their schools put them in for courses similar to old O-levels instead.

In a sign of the backlash against improving results, almost 250 independent schools are entering pupils in the international courses in at least one subject, up from just a handful four years ago.

The courses, known as International GCSEs (IGCSEs) involve sitting exams after two years and little or no coursework, freeing time to cover topics preparing for A-levels.

Thousands more results were not counted in yesterday's national figures because pupils had been fast-tracked through the system and entered for GCSEs early in an attempt to give them a head start at AS-level.

Others are taking vocational courses which were criticised in a report this week as ' pointless' for failing to impart useful skills.

Figures from the country's main exam boards showed that almost 20,000 more pupils entered English in November last year, nine months earlier than usual.

Some 7,000 went in for maths early while at least 10,000 opted for the IGCSE in maths.

At the independent City of London School for Boys, the standard GCSE was dropped in favour of the international exams in more subjects than any other school  -  English language, English literature, maths, physics, chemistry and biology.

The school achieved its best ever results, with 49 per cent of all exams taken achieving A* grades.

Headmaster David Levin said: 'We believed the IGCSE was a far better course than the national curriculum version because there was no coursework.

David Levin: Headmaster of City of London School for boys

'This enabled us to teach core subjects for longer and the result is successful beyond our imagination.'

State schools are unable to offer IGCSEs after a ruling that they do not fit the national curriculum.

Greg Watson, chief executive of exam board OCR, said all pupils and teachers were increasingly aware of their options.

'It is not uncommon for some schools to be starting the most able students on GCSEs in Year 9 and finishing them in Year 10 to create more headroom for A-level,' he said.

It also emerged that pupils are taking on average just under eight GCSEs, compared with just over eight five years ago.

Heads' leaders said schools were realising there was little benefit to be gained from taking bumper numbers of the same type of exam. 

Eight-year-old Zohaib Ahmed scooped an astonishing A* (A star) in his GCSE maths today

Tony Little, headmaster of Eton College, suggested GCSE entries should be limited to five or six, including English, maths, science and modern languages.

Warning against churning out large numbers of passes 'factory-style', he said: 'We need to get away from this feeling that you are worthless if you fail to achieve ten or 11 GCSEs.'

But as rising results and stunning individual performances were celebrated, industry leaders warned that around 100,000 pupils still gained F grades in maths and 53,000 in English.

With only a marginal improvement in maths and English scores on last year, around 300,000 will fail to gain C grades  -  increasingly seen as the barometer of success at GCSE  -  in two subjects highly valued by employers.

John Cridland, the CBI's deputy director-general, said: 'About 100,000 of this year's GCSE students may still need further education or on-the-job training to read, write and do simple maths.'

Last night Schools Minister Jim Knight denied the IGCSE was superior to the GCSE.

Helen Barnett celebrates her amazing GCSE results with her mother at Thomas Telford School in Shropshire.

Students celebrate their GCSE results at Brighton College in Brighton, East Sussex.

Tragic Triumph

Jimmy Mizen passed eight exams

The family of Jimmy Mizen, who was killed in May just days before he was due to sit his GCSEs, yesterday discovered he had passed eight exams.

His results were based on coursework and teacher assessment at St Thomas More Catholic comprehensive in Eltham, South-East London.

Murdered teenager Ben Kinsella passed his GCSEs with flying colours, his family revealed.

Ben, 16, was stabbed in Islington, North London, in June.

Craig Owen, from Wrexham, North Wales, who was buried alive under tons of sand while playing on a beach earlier this month, achieved five A*s and five As. 

Grammars ahead

State grammars outstripped fee-paying schools in the drive for top grades - and are improving their results more quickly.

Pupils in selective state schools passed 54.5 per cent of exams at A* and A against independent schools' 51.1 per cent.

From a lower base, comprehensives also showed faster improvement than independent schools over the last six years, with 4.1 per cent more top grades against 2.8 per cent for fee-paying schools.

But independent school chiefs said almost half now enter pupils for international exams which were excluded from yesterday's figures, and added that many feepaying schools are non-selective.