Expectant teenagers waited nervously in the rain outside Caterham High School, Caterham Avenue, Clayhall to pick up their results.

But spirits inside the school were not dampened as some pupils whooped with joy on opening their papers.

Headteacher Dr Alan Atkins told the Recorder this morning it was “too early” to get an overall picture of how his Year 11s had done, but that he was “very pleased”.

One of those smiling more than most was 16-year-old Imran Hussain, of Dovedale Avenue, Clayhall, who bagged nine A*s and three As.

Imran said: “I am really happy and excited, I’m over the moon. I really didn’t think I had done this well.

“I did work quite hard for the exams, but I didn’t expect to get all the A*s.”

The results take him one step closer to his dream of becoming a doctor or optician.

His mum, Arefa Khatun, was also “delighted” with her son’s good news.

While most of the students will be staying on at the school’s sixth form, some, like Ashley Griffith, are heading elsewhere.

Ashley, who passed all his exams, is heading to Havering College, Romford, for A-levels and a “change of scene”.

He said: “I was kind of nervous but now I have them I’m OK. I did enough to get in to college and that’s all that matters.”

Rebecca Rolph, 16, was surprised by her A* and a haul of Bs and Cs.

She is leaving the Clayhall school to study at a specialist dance college, where she will also do A-levels in English literature and psychology.