Three Sussex secondary schools have been given an award for their work in making art matter for students.

Blatchington Mill School in Hove, and Thomas Bennett Community College in Crawley, were two of 274 schools across England to receive the Artsmark Gold status.

Hove Park School was given one of 298 silver awards.

The awards from the Arts Council England recognise schools which demonstrate a commitment to providing opportunities across all art forms.

The scheme also encourages schools to work in partnership with artists and arts organisations.

Neil Hunter, head at Blatchington, said: "I am delighted the Arts Council has recognised the school's achievement and commitment to the arts.

"Students at the school and members of the wider community have benefited from excellent resources and, in particular, the inspirational members of staff at Blatchington Mill.

"However, we will not be resting on our laurels. There is still much to do to reach the aim of becoming the centre for the arts for our community."

Tim Barclay, head at Hove Park, was equally pleased with the award and thanked Jan Campbell and Shirley Lindford for their hard work in promoting the arts in the school.

He said: "It's a recognition of all the hard work the staff have put in and the excellence of the students.

"It's something we have an amazing success with and have got really talented and gifted students.

"As well as being a language college, it's great to say we have good results in the arts."

To qualify for an award, a school must carry out an audit of its arts provision.

Each award is valid for three years, although schools can apply to upgrade their award during that time.

Laura Moffatt, MP for Crawley, said Thomas Bennett's award was a testament to the hard work of staff and students.

She added: "These awards are not given out lightly and the successful schools need to demonstrate a broad range of curricular and extra-curricular arts opportunities for students, partnerships with artists and arts organisations and professional development opportunities for teachers."

Peter Hewitt, chief executive of the Arts Council England, said: "Now in its third year, Artsmark continues to go from strength to strength.

"Our belief is that the arts have the power to transform lives and that dynamic arts experiences offered by schools have a lasting impact on young people."

The two schools were among 775 across England to receive an award.