Hardenhuish School recorded its highest ever number of the top A-level grades this year.

Almost a third, 32 per cent, of all grades achieved at the Chippenham school were grade A or above, far above the national average of 26 per cent.

And ten per cent were A* grades, compared with 7.6 nationally.

The school also improved on its percentage of A* to B grades, this time achieving 59 per cent.

Twenty-two of the 136 A-level students (16 per cent) opened their brown envelopes this morning to find three or four straight As or A*s.

One of them was Mark Johnson, of Cepen Park North, who with an A* and two As got his first choice of reading computer science at Bath. He said he chose there because they allow you to do a year in industry.

Clara Halse has secured a place at Oxford to read maths, while Emily Powell takes up a prestigious place on a fashion degree at St Martin’s London. And five students will be studying medicine, including Ellen Grant of Sutton Benger, off to Plymouth after achieving two As and B. She said: “I still can’t believe they want me!”

Students said they had not been put off by £9,000 a year tuition fees, saying they were going not just for the degree but also for the experience.

Emily Terrell was celebrating after achieving A*, A and B and will now study geography at Royal Holloway, University of London.

She said: “I hadn’t really thought about results day until yesterday when I started panicking, but I did better than my predicted grades, ABB.”

Hardenhuish’s deputy head, Dr Robin Bassford, said: “Our sixth form continues to grow since our building opened three years ago. We are pleased with the results which equal our best ever, and our average total UCAS points score is our highest ever, 363 [the equivalent of three As].

“But it’s not just the top end we’re pleased with, it’s the vast majority of our students achieving or exceeding their target grades through hard work and ambition.”