The Foothills School Division's students "exceed the excellence level" set by the Province.

The division met or exceeded standards in almost all subjects at the grades 3, 6, 9 and 12 levels on last year's achievement tests.

Assistant Superintendant Denise Rose says the grade 12 diploma marks, in particular, have improved over past years.

"One of the areas that we're really proud of is our diploma exam results, because that's been an area of growth. We've made a focus on excellence in our high school programming and we're really seeing the results of that."

Rose adds the division's participation rate was a full five per cent higher than the rest of the province, reflecting their dedication to full student testing.