Durham County Council has been given ‘value added’ awards in recognition of the achievement of its schools and academies. Value added is when students achieve higher results than expected, and post-16 students in Durham schools and academies achieved some of the highest value added in the country in the 2016 A level and Applied General qualification exam results. The awards were presented by Learning Plus UK at their recent post-16 Education Summit in London in recognition of the strong achievement of students in the 2016 examination. Durham is one of only four local authorities to receive the awards and the only county to receive the award in two categories. Caroline O’Neill, head of education, said: “These awards are testament to the dedication and hard work of young people and the highly skilled staff in school sixth forms in County Durham.”