A head teacher has saluted his school’s “incredible achievement” after it went from underperforming to among the top schools in the country.

George Mitchell School in Leyton was rated as “requires improvement” by Ofsted in 2013 and was bottom of GCSE results table in Waltham Forest.

At the time, inspectors found students were not making sufficient progress in English or maths, and were also falling behind in science, drama, history music and physical education.

However, since then, the school has improved its Ofsted rating to “good” and last week was ranked within the 250 highest-achieving schools in the country for GCSE results.

George Mitchell achieved plus 0.64 in the government benchmark Progress 8 measurements, which measure the progress that pupils make from the start of secondary school until GCSE results.

The results are well over a half grade higher than the national average, which is zero.

The score means the school is in the top 250 and top two percent of schools nationally and the best non-selective school in the borough.

Head teacher, Saeed Hussain, who took charge of the school in 2013, said: “To be ranked among the top 250 schools in the country is truly an incredible achievement.

"This was always a school rich with untapped potential. It just took the right team of talented, supportive and hardworking teachers and leaders to realise that potential.

"Our results are well above the average for a school rated outstanding by Ofsted, but most importantly the transformation of this school means our students are now benefiting from the type of education that can make a real difference to their life chances."