Four out of five Cherokee County tenth graders passed the exit exam on their first attempt this year, according to results released Friday by the state Department of Education.

High school students must pass the English and math sections of the High School Assessment Program (HSAP) in order to graduate. The exit exam is given to students during their second year in high school. Students who do not pass the test on their first attempt have additional chances to pass the test before graduation.

About half of the states nationally require high school students to pass an exit exam. South Carolina has given the current HSAP exam for five years.

In 2008, both Blacksburg and Gaffney high schools had exit exam scores above this year's state average of 80.8 percent. Blacksburg High had a first attempt pass rate of 85.3 percent while Gaffney High had a pass rate of 81.3 percent.

This was a significant improvement from 1997 when only half of the district's high school students could pass the exit exam on their first attempt.

"This is just tremendous to make this type of improvement on the exit exam over the past 12 years," Cherokee County School Superintendent Dr. Bill James said. "This says a lot about the job our schools have done to prepare students to do well on the exit exam and other standardized tests."

Both Blacksburg and Gaffney high schools have benefited from an academy program that the school district started in 2001. Students in those grades take additional English and math classes where they can focus on improving their skills in those subject areas.

"Historically, we can trace our improvement on the exit exam coming with the introduction of the academy program," Blacksburg High Principal Jim Touchberry said. "The big challenge is to continue the progress we have made over the past several years. We certainly have a ways to go."