A secondary school for girls has been singled out for praise by the Government after a successful summer of exam results.

Julia Waters, the headteacher of Ursuline School in west Wimbledon, said she was “delighted” to receive the acknowledgment from David Laws MP, minister of state for schools.

Mr Laws lauded Ursuline for being among the top 100 best performing non-selective schools for GCSE results – after 99 per cent of pupils got at least five good grades (A*-C).

The minister said: “As you may know, I personally place particular importance on the role that schools can play in supporting social mobility by ensuring that all pupils, whatever their background, are successful.

“Your school is exceptionally effective in educating its pupils, including those on free school meals, and I commend you for everything that you are doing in this area.

“It is clear that your school has equipped its pupils to be successful hereafter, both in terms of their readiness for further study, and in terms of their readiness to enter the world of work in due course.

“I would like to congratulate your staff, governors and pupils for their hard work and success and thank you for your leadership in continuing the drive towards high standards of educational achievement.”

The plaudits came as Mr Laws and his superior, education secretary Michael Gove, backtracked on plans to replace GCSEs with an e-bacc qualification, which would place more emphasis on maths and english at the expense of arts subjects.

In September 2012, Mr Gove said the new ebacc would end "grade inflaton and dumbing down", but last week admitted scrapping GCSEs would be "a bridge too far".