IT was a year to remember for both Meridian School and Melbourn Village College as students gained top GCSE grades. Of the 166 Year 11 students at Meridian, 56 per cent achieved five A*-C grades and 95 per cent gained five A*-G passes. Head of year Brian

IT was a year to remember for both Meridian School and Melbourn Village College as students gained top GCSE grades.

Of the 166 Year 11 students at Meridian, 56 per cent achieved five A*-C grades and 95 per cent gained five A*-G passes.

Head of year Brian Archbold said: "This year's results have been very pleasing indeed. The students have been a joy to work with and to see them progress and achieve their grades has been great.

"There has been some outstanding individual performances. They have worked hard and deserve their success."

Star student, Martin Goddard, amassed a staggering ten A* and two A grades. He said: "I was completely shocked. I expected good grades but this is unbelievable. I think my family and school are very proud and I've had a lot of handshakes from my friends.

"The exams were quite challenging, but I put a lot of work in and it seems to have paid off."

Emma Higton gained seven A* and five A grades.

She said: "I'm very happy with my results and I have done better than I had expected. I'm happy because all my friends did well which is good."

The Meridian role of honour continued with Emily Whitehouse, Emma Holmes, Tim Smith, Clare Cooke, Alex Overhill, Gemma Porter and Amanda Bray all gaining A* grades.

Lisa Johnston, who got four Bs and six Cs, said: "The exams were very stressful, but now everyone can relax and go out and celebrate."

At Melbourn Village College, a near speechless Tom Bamborough got nine As and one B. He said: "I'm lost for words. I can't believe how well I have done. When I opened the envelope I thought the results must be wrong. I'm so happy."

Tom's mum Julie added: "Tom has worked so hard and we are all so proud of him. He's had such great support from the school and everybody is really thrilled."

Some 65 per cent of students came out with five A*-C grades, with eight youngsters achieving between ten and 14 A* and A grades.

Warden Ron Berry said: "It's an improvement on last year's results and we are delighted for the individuals that have done extremely well. It's been a very good year and we are excited by the college's progress.