St Aidan's Preesall GCSE results: a great reward for all the hard work

Two students – Imogen Evans and Rebecca Roeves – managed a clean sweep of 10 Grade 8s and 9s, while17 students got at least six of these top grades.

Erin Kennedy who achieved 8 subjects at Grade 9 while twins Olivia and Sofia Christodoulou achieved 19 top grades (7-9) between them.

Headteacher Andy Smith said: “St Aidan’s students must have felt particularly nervous this morning. They were the first group in three years to sit GCSE exams, and the headlines this year have been all about falling grades nationally.

"However, there were a lot of smiles at 9am as they celebrated record results despite all the challenges they have faced, with grades in these exams even better than the school assessed grades of the last two years.

“This year’s GCSE students have had so much to deal with, and have shown amazing resilience to get through their courses successfully.

"The excellent results they have picked up this morning are a great reward for all the hard work they have done in school and at home, and they can now look forward to the next stage in their education with confidence. I’m so proud of them!”

St Aidan’s, a voluntary-aided Church of England School with a current roll of 844 pupils.

Along its former pupils is Barney Harwood, a well-known CBBC presenter, who has been a familiar face on Blue Peter.