Students from Beal High School were up bright and early to celebrate their “excellent” A-level grades yesterday.

Ilford Recorder: Student Hina Khalid, 18, picking up her A-level results at Beal High SchoolStudent Hina Khalid, 18, picking up her A-level results at Beal High School (Image: Archant)

Filing into the hall from 8am onwards, the pupils found they had smashed the school’s previous best results.

Approximately 43 per cent achieved A* to B grades, 63 per cent achieved A* to C grades and 99.7 per cent took away A* to E grades.

Mark Smith, the head of sixth form, said: “We have had an excellent student performance, exceeding previous best A-level results.

“This is an excellent achievement by our Year 13 students, especially given the changes to A-level entries and the loss of the January resits.”

Ilford Recorder: Student Xhavit Hoxhaj, 18, got all Bs in his A-level results at Beal High School and is the first in his family to go to universityStudent Xhavit Hoxhaj, 18, got all Bs in his A-level results at Beal High School and is the first in his family to go to university (Image: Archant)

Hina Khalid, 18, has realised her dream of going to Cambridge University after achieving A*s in religious studies and English literature and an A in French.

She is set to study theology.

Hina said: “I can’t believe it, I’m so happy. I honestly didn’t think I’d done this well.

“Cambridge has been my dream since Year Eight. I am so happy I got the grades.”

Ilford Recorder: Saakshi Bansal, 18, and Safa Acmosawi, 18, picking up their A-level results at Beal High SchoolSaakshi Bansal, 18, and Safa Acmosawi, 18, picking up their A-level results at Beal High School (Image: Archant)

Also celebrating was Safa Acmosawi, 18, who received an A* in chemistry and As in biology and maths.

She is now set to study medicine at Imperial College London.

Safa said: “I’m so excited. I didn’t expect to get an A* in chemistry.”

Other students the Recorder met included Xhavit Hoxhaj, 18, who will be the first person in his family to go to university after achieving three Bs, and Stephanie Constantinou, 18, who received two Bs and two distinction stars - the BTEC equivalent of A*s.

Stephanie, who will study criminology and sociology at the University of Surrey, was just four marks off an A in sociology.

AS-level results were also strong for the school, matching its best performance.

Mr Smith said 25 of these students are now on target for straight A* and A grades in their A-levels next year.