Schools threatened with closure by Education Secretary Ed Balls have made significant improvements, according to GCSE results published today.

Thousands of pupils across Sussex will make their way to their schools today to discover how they fared in this year's exams.

Early indications suggest that record pass rates will be registered once again.

Several schools have already reported that their grades have hit new high levels.

Particular attention will be paid to the results at 11 schools in Sussex who were named by Mr Balls on a national list of those where he wanted standards to be improved.

Each has been told it has until 2011 to boost its pass rate for the proportion of pupils earning five A* to C grades, including English and maths, to 30%.

Mr Balls said any which failed to make the marker could be closed or forced to become academies.

Four of the schools said their grades had already improved, and two had pushed clear of the 30% target.

Paula Sargent, headteacher of Patcham High in Brighton, one of the listed schools, said it had improved its pass rate by 4% to 27%.

Mrs Sargent said: "We're absolutely delighted that the school's continued hard work is paying off and we're very confident that, with this upward trajectory, we will exceed the Government's target next year."

The headteachers of King's Manor Community College in Shoreham and The Causeway School in Eastbourne said their schools had now broken through the 30% mark.

It was the second landmark in a week for King's Manor after 18-year-old Liam Whitton, from Shoreham, became its first ever pupil to win a place at Oxford University.

Causeway headteacher Alison Dearden said its pass rate had jumped by 10%.

She said: "These results demonstrate the huge improvements that have taken place at the Causeway, particularly the high standards of teaching and the inspirational staff who support the students."

Eastbourne Technology College and Falmer High, in Brighton, which both also featured in the list, said they had seen improvements in overall results but needed to boost grades in maths to move forward further.

The other schools on the list: Hillcrest in Hastings. Tideway in Newhaven, Filsham Valley and The Grove in St Leonards, Thomas Bennett Community College in Crawley and Boundstone Community College in Lancing, were unavailable to comment.

Celebrations will be expected today at several schools which have already confirmed records had been broken.

Trevor Allen, headteacher at Dorothy Stringer School in Brighton, said it had become the first in the city to register more than 80% of pupils earning five A* to C grades and had the best average points score per pupil in the county.

He said: "It is a staggering achievement."

Independent school Brighton College said pupils had set a record, with 100% scoring five A* to C grades and 40 pupils with nothing below an A grade.

Among them were three sets of twins who amassed 48 A* and A grades between them. Adam and William Davies, Luke and Miles Holbrook, and Dale and Lucas Currell will be celebrating at the school this morning.

Girls school Roedean said 55.3% of all its results were A* or A grades, with pupils taking the harder IGCSE exams in maths, biology and chemistry.

See tomorrow's Argus for pictures and reports of results day celebrations.

Send your pictures of the celebrations to picture.desk@theargus.co.uk for our online gallery.

How did you get on in your GCSEs? Let us know below.