GCSE results: Twins celebrate full set of As at St Philip Howard

The siblings matched each other with a fabulous eight A*s and two As apiece, with James gaining an extra A in additional mathematics.

James said: “She pushed me this year and worked really hard. We’re really happy and we’re both staying on here for sixth form.”

Head teacher David Carter added: “They’ve done amazingly well, it’s not often you get twins getting a full set of As.”

Despite tougher GCSEs in maths and English this year, a rapid change in the curriculum and new assessment criteria, students in Year 11 at the Barnham school again surpassed themselves.

Results equal the school’s best-ever grades, with 85 per cent of students achieving five or more GCSEs at grade C or higher, and 79 per cent achieving five or more including English and maths. A quarter of all grades were A* to A.

Other students to gain the top grades in every subject include Zach Hollis, Kristina Coles, Katherine Greenway, Emma Hattersley, Maddie Murtagh and Katie Smith.

Emma achieved nine A*s and one A and said: “I’m so relived. All the time I spent locked in my bedroom studying paid off.

“Now I can go to bed and sleep without dreaming about getting Fs!”

She is staying on at the school to study music, maths, physics and French.

Lucy Owen, a student in Year 9, sat her GCSE maths two years early, yet still came away with the highest possible grade 9, the equivalent to an A**.

The new grade for English and maths was only awarded to the top three per cent of students in the country.

Dan Bentley opened up two A*s, seven As and a B in geography, which especially pleased him after working hard in the subject.

Hannah Boylin achieved three A*s, four As and three Bs while friend Lauren Kernoghan ‘did better than I expected’ and is off to Chichester College.

The school said it was especially pleasing to see that both German and Spanish results achieve over 90 per cent A* to C, along with music, drama, textiles and English.

Head Mr Carter added: “Behind these outstanding results are individuals who have worked exceptionally hard and shown a dedication and commitment to their studies which has been very impressive to witness.

“We are very proud of all that they have achieved and look forward to welcoming the vast majority, along with new students, into our sixth form.

“My thanks go to the staff who have taught the students so well and coped with enormous amounts of change in the curriculum and to our ever-supportive parents, without whom we couldn’t do it.”

Anyone interested in going to the SPH sixth form can contact the school on www.sphcs.co.uk with enrolment on Tuesday, September 5.

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