There were squeals of joy at Helston Community College today when year 11 students picked up their GCSE results after a long summer of waiting.

For many the wait proved worth it, as pupils poured over pages of top results watched by their proud parents.

Top performing student this year was Milly Hayton, from Helston, who achieved nine A* grades and one A.

Falmouth Packet:

Other high achievers included Tamzin Reynolds and Philip Crawley, who both opened their envelopes to find eight A* and two A grades, and Harvey Taylor who got seven A* grades, two A grades and a distinction*.

Dr Pat McGovern, overseeing his very last results day before taking up a coaching and mentoring role still in education, said: “We’re generally delighted with the results. We have a large number of students who have got an outstanding set of results.”

Overall the college saw the number of students achieving five or more A* to C grades, including English and maths, rise by three per cent.

However, Dr McGovern said it was difficult to make a comparison with previous years as the way English language was assessed had changed this year, with no longer marks for speaking and listening, and a greater emphasis on the end of course exam.

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High achievers: Milly Hayton – 9A*, 1A; Harvey Taylor – 7A*, 2A, double distinction*; Tamzin Reynolds – 8A*, 2A; Philip Crawley – 8A*, 2A; Hannah Gillett – 6A*, 4A; Cerys Plenty – 6A*, 2A, 2B; James Hosking – 4A*, 6A.