HUNDREDS of A-level students in west Wiltshire are celebrating as they look to the future after receiving their results on Thursday.

Pupils gathered at schools from as early as 8am to see if they had got the grades they need to take up places at increasingly competitive universities. They were also joined by Year 12 pupils who were collecting AS results which will take them into their second year of A-level courses.

Megan Bond, 19, of John of Gaunt School in Trowbridge, said: “Two years ago I got two E grades and a D. Now I’m so pleased I’ve come out with an A* and two As.

“At my last school I just didn’t get the support I needed but the staff here have really made it happen for me. I’ve turned my life around.”

Fellow student Lizzy Perkins, 18, from Bratton, scooped two A*s and two As, confirming her place at the prestigious Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge University to study archaeology and anthropology. She said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be going to Cambridge. I’ll be really sad to leave the school because I have had an amazing time.”

The school recorded a 97 per cent pass rate.

St Augustine’s Catholic College, also in Trowbridge, enjoyed an overall pass rate of 99.2 per cent. Ben Yates, who triumphed with an A* and three As, said: “I’ll be heading to Exeter University to study economics. I am over the moon – I got all the grades I needed and wanted.”

A-level students at Melksham Oak notched up a 98.5 per cent pass rate, up from 95 per cent last year – 160 students collected AS and A-level grades.

Some students who had hoped to get their results early online had a frustrating morning: Kim Gill, of Melksham, struggled for hours to connect to the UCAS website before making her way to school to discover she had achieved three A grades, in Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics.

She is heading to Nottingham University to study bio-chemistry, planning a career in forensic science.

“I am ecstatic, I wasn’t expecting three As,” she said.

“I’ve been on the UCAS website all morning but it was down.”

Forty per cent of pupils at St Laurence School in Bradford on Avon achieved all their grades at A* to B, with two students gaining all three of their A-levels at A* and 13 collecting three or more with A or A* grades.

Trowbridge Sixth Form Centre, with students from Clarendon College and John of Gaunt, achieved a pass rate of 98 per cent and a A*-B pass rate of 42.5 per cent.

Corsham School, which came out as Britain’s best comprehensive in value added rankings last year, had a 99 per cent pass rate this year, with 52 per cent of students getting a B or above.

Matravers School in Westbury enjoyed a 97 per cent pass rate with 55 per cent of students achieving A*-C. They also saw a seven per cent increase in the pass rate at AS level with 86 per cent making the grade.