Principal's pride on A-level results day at Melton Vale 16

The vast majority of students at MV16 are now preparing to study at unversity and Mrs Black said results day is always tinged with a bit of sadness for her and other teaching colleagues.

She said: “I feel like a very proud mum to 200 teenagers. Parents go through it as well, of course, but I get very engaged in the whole process as our students wait for their results.

“It’s always sad to see them leave but we are very proud of them - it’s a very close community here and they are a fabulous lot.

“One of the highlights of my job is watching students flourish and the great thing is most of them keep in touch after they leave.

“We have a very strong alumni group now at MV16 and a lot of them come back to impart careers advice to our students and some even come back to recruit some of them for jobs.”

This year’s students have been the first to take a new format of A-level where all exams are taken at the end of the course with no marks from AS levels taken the year before contributing to the overall final grade, as happened before.

Mrs Black added: “There has been much uncertainty within the education world regarding exam reform this year, so I am delighted to say that MV16 students continued to work tirelessly, with overall results being even higher than last year.”

One of the top achievers was Freya Ratcliffe-Cooper, who is to study English and history at Leeds University after attaining two A* grades and an A.

Twins Hannah and Sophie Pilsworth are preparing to study physics and law, respectively, at Warwick University.

Hannah, who got two A*s and an A, said: “We did all our revision together and helped each other throughout school.”

After opening her envelope and delightedly seeing she had achieved an A* and two As, Sophie said: “The results are really good, better than expected. I’m shocked but relieved because I’ve worked so hard.”

Several students praised the support they have received from staff at MV16, such as Alice Broad, who attained an A* and two As to enable her to study an art foundation course at Loughborough.

Former Belvoir High School pupil, Ella Metcalfe, was beaming after seeing she had got an A* and two Bs so she can read English literature at York University.

She said: “It’s been amazing at MV16. I couldn’t have wished for better support from all the teachers.”

Josh Physick said he was relieved to get the grades he needed (an A and two Bs) to take up his place at Manchester University studying English and French.

“Last night was a bit morbid for me - I couldn’t think about anything else other than my results and it was the same this morning so I am extremely happy with how I did,” said Josh.

Twins George and Ben Wilkinson, who formerly attended Sherard Primary and Long Field Academy, were pleased with their grades although it will mean they won’t be studying at the same university.

George is off to Nottingham Trent to do business management after attaining two As and a B.

While Ben, who will study music and business at Sheffield University after achieving two Bs and a D, said: “It will be strange being apart but we don’t mind too much not being at the same university.”

Two MV16 students - Cameron Ainge and Tiffany Bargate - are looking forward to studying physiotherapy at university.

One of the biggest smiles was on the face of Amy Cornforth, who was ecstatic with her A* and two As to ensure she can study veterinary medicine at Bristol University.

She said: “My results are fabulous, absolutely fantastic. It takes a lot for me to constantly smile like this.”

A growing number of MV16 students are now choosing to follow the higher apprenticeship route.

Natasha Roberts, assistant principal, said: “Every year we support students to ensure they gain their places at university and believe the foundation of study skills they develop whilst at Melton Vale allows them to flourish as undergraduates.”

Top performing students this year and their grades: Freya Ratcliffe-Cooper - A*A*A; Thomas Madigan - A*A*A; Chloe Zareba - A*A*A; Hannah Pilsworth - A*A*A; Sophie Pilsworth - A*AA; Victoria Adams A*AAA; Alice Broad A*AA; Amy Cornforth A*AA; Jenny Eva A*AA; Alex Horobin A*AA; Emily Kuzmic A*AA; Mia McAree A*AA; Ethan Ross A*AA;

Zara Cockerill A*AA; James Borrett AAA; Owen Osmond AAA.