The number of students in Havering getting five or more grades in at A* to C went up to 81.5 per cent from last year's 78.8 per cent.
Nationally 69.4 per cent of entries earned grades A*-C, compared with 69.8 per cent last year.
Of the approximate 2,847 students in Havering, those achieving five or more grades A* to C including English and maths was 61.1 per cent.
Councillor Paul Rochford, Cabinet Member for Children and Learning said: "What a fantastic result for all of our secondary schools and well done to all students and staff for their hard work and dedication.
"GCSE results can make a huge difference to a young person's future. I can't imagine the nervous wait these young people have had up until this point. I hope they have all received the results they hoped and worked for and that this will set them off on a successful route to higher education or successful careers."
Sanders Draper School, Hornchurch, posted its best set of results with a pass rate of 62 per cent of pupils achieving five or more A* to C grades including English and maths.
Among the school's success stories was Mehleen Brishti.
The teenager moved to England from Bangladesh at the end of year six and achieved an impressive 11 A*s in maths, English literature, English language, statistics, media, history, French, RE, ICT, chemistry and physics and an A in biology.
She said: "I never expected it. I was a little bit sad about biology but I will live with it. I am pleased and I spoke to mum in Bangladesh and she started crying so I know she's proud of me.
"I want to be a surgeon."
Emma Smith was delighted with her results of A*s in chemistry, media, history, statistics, English language and maths and As in biology, physics, French, RE, ICT and English literature.
She said:"I'm absolutely elated. It was better than I expected and I'm really proud.
"Some exams seemed much harder than others so it was hard to know what to expect. I was glad to finally get my results as the last few days seem to have taken forever.
"My mum cried when I told her and she's taking me out to dinner tonight to celebrate."
Other high achieving pupils included Jasdip Dulai who got five A*s, four As and two Bs and hopes to go into medicine. Adam Pike got six A*s, four As and two Bs and hopes to become a TV science expert. Grace Fairley who got three A*s and eight As wants to go into graphic design and Bhavna Halai who got seven A*s, four As and a B in French, plans to become a dentist.
At Frances Bardsley Academy two high achieving pupils got an impressive 17 A*s between them, despite one suffering with a serious illness.
Sophie Taylor got A*s in English literature, English language, geography, history, maths, media, RS, general studies, A* and A in double science and a B in French, despite being diagnosed with glandular fever last summer.
She said:"I was hoping to get good grades but I wasn't sure because having glandular fever made it hard to study."
I was on a reduced timetable and sometimes had to go home when I couldn't cope. I'm really pleased with my results. When we started the exams I tried to make as much time as possible to study, but it was difficult as I couldn't study for long periods.
"My family is really proud of me too."
Sophie will be joining the academy's sixth form to study A-levels in English literature, history, psychology and biology.
She hopes to continue to study English at university and to become an author.Amy Palmer-Newton was another high achiever with A*s in general studies, English literature, maths, geography, history, biology, chemistry, physics, RS and As in German and English language, as well as A in Latin which she took a year early.
She said:"I was in absolute disbelief at first but I'm really happy. It was what I was hoping for but I didn't want to expect it."I told my dad and he was really proud and went off to call the whole family. I'm going out with my friends to celebrate today and will celebrate with my family tonight.
"I spent a lot of time studying and now I'm excited about starting sixth form."
Amy will also be staying on at Frances Bardsley Academy sixth form to study maths, biology, geography and chemistry and hopes to go to university in the future.
Headteacher Julian Dutnall said: "I feel very pleased, it's my first year here and I can see that the work we did in maths has reaped the benefits. We had four girls achieving eight or more A*s and we're particularly pleased with the number of As and A*s in four subjects, English literature, history, media and RS."We can now look forwards and see what we need to work on in the next year. I'm really pleased with the hard work put in by all the students and teachers."
Nationally 69.4 per cent of entries earned grades A*-C, compared with 69.8 per cent last year.
Of the approximate 2,847 students in Havering, those achieving five or more grades A* to C including English and maths was 61.1 per cent.
Councillor Paul Rochford, Cabinet Member for Children and Learning said: "What a fantastic result for all of our secondary schools and well done to all students and staff for their hard work and dedication.
"GCSE results can make a huge difference to a young person's future. I can't imagine the nervous wait these young people have had up until this point. I hope they have all received the results they hoped and worked for and that this will set them off on a successful route to higher education or successful careers."
Sanders Draper School, Hornchurch, posted its best set of results with a pass rate of 62 per cent of pupils achieving five or more A* to C grades including English and maths.
Among the school's success stories was Mehleen Brishti.
The teenager moved to England from Bangladesh at the end of year six and achieved an impressive 11 A*s in maths, English literature, English language, statistics, media, history, French, RE, ICT, chemistry and physics and an A in biology.
She said: "I never expected it. I was a little bit sad about biology but I will live with it. I am pleased and I spoke to mum in Bangladesh and she started crying so I know she's proud of me.
"I want to be a surgeon."
Emma Smith was delighted with her results of A*s in chemistry, media, history, statistics, English language and maths and As in biology, physics, French, RE, ICT and English literature.
She said:"I'm absolutely elated. It was better than I expected and I'm really proud.
"Some exams seemed much harder than others so it was hard to know what to expect. I was glad to finally get my results as the last few days seem to have taken forever.
"My mum cried when I told her and she's taking me out to dinner tonight to celebrate."
Other high achieving pupils included Jasdip Dulai who got five A*s, four As and two Bs and hopes to go into medicine. Adam Pike got six A*s, four As and two Bs and hopes to become a TV science expert. Grace Fairley who got three A*s and eight As wants to go into graphic design and Bhavna Halai who got seven A*s, four As and a B in French, plans to become a dentist.
At Frances Bardsley Academy two high achieving pupils got an impressive 17 A*s between them, despite one suffering with a serious illness.
Sophie Taylor got A*s in English literature, English language, geography, history, maths, media, RS, general studies, A* and A in double science and a B in French, despite being diagnosed with glandular fever last summer.
She said:"I was hoping to get good grades but I wasn't sure because having glandular fever made it hard to study."
I was on a reduced timetable and sometimes had to go home when I couldn't cope. I'm really pleased with my results. When we started the exams I tried to make as much time as possible to study, but it was difficult as I couldn't study for long periods.
"My family is really proud of me too."
Sophie will be joining the academy's sixth form to study A-levels in English literature, history, psychology and biology.
She hopes to continue to study English at university and to become an author.Amy Palmer-Newton was another high achiever with A*s in general studies, English literature, maths, geography, history, biology, chemistry, physics, RS and As in German and English language, as well as A in Latin which she took a year early.
She said:"I was in absolute disbelief at first but I'm really happy. It was what I was hoping for but I didn't want to expect it."I told my dad and he was really proud and went off to call the whole family. I'm going out with my friends to celebrate today and will celebrate with my family tonight.
"I spent a lot of time studying and now I'm excited about starting sixth form."
Amy will also be staying on at Frances Bardsley Academy sixth form to study maths, biology, geography and chemistry and hopes to go to university in the future.
Headteacher Julian Dutnall said: "I feel very pleased, it's my first year here and I can see that the work we did in maths has reaped the benefits. We had four girls achieving eight or more A*s and we're particularly pleased with the number of As and A*s in four subjects, English literature, history, media and RS."We can now look forwards and see what we need to work on in the next year. I'm really pleased with the hard work put in by all the students and teachers."