There were a lot of nervous faces waiting outside The Palmer Catholic Academy, Aldborough Road South, Seven Kings this morning but these soon changed to smiles once results had been handed out.

Friends began congratulating each other in small groups as they discussed each others grades out in the sunshine with 82 per cent of pupils getting five A*-C grades.

Deputy head, Paul Egan, said: “We are absolutely delighted and have achieved are highest ever results. We have increased the number of students getting A* and A grades which is something we wanted to focus on. People don’t realise how these hard kids work and we start our booster classes early so people can fulfil their potential.”

Mr Egan said the school had seen a marginal reduction in some English results but nothing too drastic.

“I just get disappointed for the pupils. The majority of our pupils will go on to study A-levels and I believe we cater for our students needs well, whether that’s academic or a more vocational approach.”

Amongst the highest achievers were Gerrard Jones who got eight A*’s, one A and one B and Aminah Hussain who worked hard to get six A*’s, four A’s and one B.