There were plenty of straight-A boys joining the high performing girls this year as the GCSE gender gap narrowed.

At Kendal's Queen Katherine School most of their top-grade students were boys as nationally the number of boys clinching grades A* to C increased by 1.3 percentage points compared to 0.9 for girls.

Jonathan Lumb bagged an impressive seven A*s and three As along with the top girl Janie Oates while Tom Langley, Tom Cowling and Jason Habbershon claimed similarly impressive grades.

Five A* and five A pupil Tom Cowling said: "I was given my results by the headmaster so I was a bit nervous, thinking there might be some other reason I had to collect them from him. When I got them it was unbelievable, thrilling, to see all those stars!"

Tom dismissed conventional explanations for gender gaps about hard-working girls putting more effort into coursework. "Some people probably shy away from working because they worry about being called swots but the better students aren't bothered about that."

Head teacher at Dallam School Steven Holdup said after a big push by teachers, Dallam's boys had caught up with the girls' excellent results and he paid tribute to the efforts of Ellie Wood who came among the top five in the country for French.

Over at Kirkbie Kendal School, the top six performers were split equally between the sexes, with three boys and three girls taking the most points for the school's best results.

Head teacher Phil Hyman said: "Overall, I would say these are a good set of results, definitely reflecting the hard work of the students and teachers. Sixty-two per cent sitting GCSEs got five or more A* to C grades and everybody gained one or more A* to G."

At John Ruskin School, Coniston, of those achieving five A*-C, 56 per cent were girls and 54 per cent boys.

Head teacher Mike Major believes it was a tremendous achievement for the school, especially as the number of students in year 10 has grown by 65 per cent over the past five years.

Particularly overjoyed with her results was Felicity Shaw, 16, from Coniston, who, despite suffering from severe dyslexia, achieved six Bs and three Cs.

Kendal College principal Graham Wilkinson was pleased with the students' total of ten A*s especially as most of the students were taking only one GCSE as a resit or to further their job prospects.

Cartmel Priory School is celebrating an excellent year in which the number of A grades more than doubled and A* grades nearly quadrupled.

Head teacher Clive Peaple paid tribute to the "hard work and persistence of students and teachers" and is now looking forward to the next school year which will be Cartmel's first as a specialist technology college.

Windermere St Anne's School also had cause for celebration as it had the first full cohort of boys to go all the way through the school to sit GCSEs since becoming a co-educational school five years ago.

Head mistress Wendy Ellis said: "I am pleased to say that all the class of 2004 acquitted themselves extremely well, in fact improving on last year's results."

Ninety-six per cent of pupils at the Lakes School, Troutbeck Bridge, achieved five GCSE passes including maths and English while 66 per cent gained five or more higher grades.