At Helena Romanes School in Great Dunmow, pupils were celebrating impressive results with 63 per cent gaining five or more grades A* to C including English and maths up from 61 per cent last year.

Results in English and maths were strong with 79 per cent achieving A* to C in English and 72 per cent gaining those grades in maths. The overall pass rate was 96 per cent.

A star performer was Saskia Proud who bagged eight A* grades and four As. This was her third year of gaining top marks. She took GCSE German two years ago, aged 14 and English literature and religious studies last year aged 15.

Saskia who said she was “very happy” is planning to take biology, chemistry, maths and German at A level.

Head girl Matilda Reijs bagged 10 As, and 1A*. She is planning to go on to take geology, maths, geography and economics.

Tegan Abbs, gained five A* grades and 5As as well as a B. She is going on to take Spanish, biology, chemistry, core maths and psychology at A-level.

Friends Isobel Bailey and Jade Gravelle were also celebrating top grades. Isobel got three As, an A* and four Bs. Jade has six As, two A* and a B.

Head Simon Knight said: “I would like to thank the staff whose expertise and tireless support of the students has helped us achieve these outstanding results.

“Our continued high performance means that more and more of our students are achieving the highest levels and we look forward to these students returning to our sixth form next year to start their A-levels with us.”

He added: “These results, together with last week’s A-levels show that we continue to move in the right direction. The dedication and hard work of our students with the support of parents has culminated in a very pleasing set of examination results. The school continues to improve and I am confident of further success in the future.”