And the 14-year-olds did themselves and their teachers enormous credit achieving 16 A* grades, 3 As, 2 Bc and a C.

The youngsters completed their Key Stage 3 humanities studies a year early to embark on their Religious Studies GCSE course, sitting their exam two years earlier than many other candidates nationally.

Headteacher Rob Garrett said: "The results are testament to the hard work of pupils and staff at an exciting time in the school's development.

"These pupils have shown what Long Field students are capable of and set the benchmark for students in the school who will, from this September, be completing their Key Stage 3 and 4 studies here."

Emily Pooley, who got an A*, said: "We had just four lessons a week for a year so it was hard work but the teachers were great. Sitting the exam two years early will give us all a mixture of confidence and dread as we embark on our GCSE years."

And Jaspar Topham, who also achieved an A*, added: "I thought I'd got a C so I'm really pleased. We'd just our SAT tests so we were already in exam mode and I guess that helped."

Teacher Ashu Bali said: "This was a more able group but to achieve 72.7 per cent A*s and 100 per cent A*-C is phenomenal. It shows what we can do as a school and next year about 60 pupils will be put forward for the exam."

Long Field's new buildings will be unveiled to pupils and parents on September 30 during the school's open week. Long Field will become an 11 to 16 school from September 2009 as part of the £45m reorganisation of secondary education in the borough.