With 87 per cent of this year’s A level students getting A* to C grades, there were lots of smiles and tears of relief as the students collected their results from Truro High School Sixth Form Centre.

Thirty per cent of all subjects taken were A* or A and 65 per cent were A* to B. Heather Rothney, 18, from St Agnes, was among those celebrating with her mum Deborah. Having achieved an A* in French and As in classical civilisation, Latin and Spanish, she is now preparing to go to Oxford University to study classics.

“Waiting for this moment has been so nerve-racking,” said Heather. “It doesn’t matter how many people tell you that you’ll do well, you can’t relax until you actually open the envelope.”

Her mum Deborah was equally emotional. “Heather has been here on a scholarship since year seven,” she said. “She came here for an open evening and immediately fell in love with the school. It’s been absolutely the right place for her and I couldn’t be happier. I don’t normally drink champagne but we’re definitely going to be drinking some today.”

Former head girl Laura Manhire, from St Newlyn East, hadn’t slept the night before collecting her results. After discovering she had achieved an A* in religious philosophy and As in English literature and history, tiredness was replaced by relief.

“I’ve been trying to act calm but I don’t think it worked,” she said. “Now I’m just so happy I’ve got my place at Bristol University to study law.”

Rachel Pearce’s reaction to her A* and 2 Bs was to shout “Oh my God!” A boarder since Year 9, she lives on the Isles of Scilly and will now go on to train as a primary school teacher at Brighton University.

Other top-performing students included Cherrie Yung, from Hong Kong, who got an A* in maths, an A in psychology, and Bs in chemistry and Chinese; Keri Joslyn who got an A* in biology, and As in chemistry and maths and Laura Ladbrooke who got As in biology and maths and a B in Spanish.

“The atmosphere has been wonderful this morning,” said Truro High School headmaster Dr Glenn Moodie. “I’m very proud of what the girls have achieved and proud, too, of the staff who have helped them realise their dreams.”