TISSUES were at the ready for students collecting their GCSE results at Clarendon Academy this morning as many burst into tears in amazement of their achievements.

One student who shined among the rest was Phoebe Cole, 16, who missed Year 9 and 10 due to kidney failure managed to come out with As and A*s across the board.

She said: “I was crying when I walked in before even getting the envelope. From having kidney failure, I missed two of my exams and so I thought I didn’t do well. I really wasn’t expecting this at all and I can’t wait to go and celebrate.”

Fellow student Tom Blake was over the moon to have made progress in his education, achieving three Bs and three Cs which will now allow him to stay on at sixth form.

He said: “I was expecting to have resit all of them but knowing I have actually finished and passed my GCSEs is unbelievable.”

The number of GCSE passes has improved on previous years and the number of students who have passed the prestigious English Baccalaureate has also increased and is well above the national average.

Principal Yvonne Jorden said the results are an improvement on previous years with 53 per cent of students achieving C grade or higher in maths.

She added: “Many students overcame great personal adversity to achieve results beyond their expectations. For the first year, we have also gone against the national trend in that that boys and girls achieved equally well.”