TEENAGERS across west Suffolk were nervously making their way to school this morning to find out their long-awaited GCSE results.

RESULTS day was worth the wait for thousands of nervous GCSE students in west Suffolk who took home record-breaking grades yesterday.

All results given below are for the percentage of pupils who gained five A*-C grades including english and maths, unless stated otherwise.

Elated students at King Edward VI Upper School were celebrating their best-ever exam results, with 60 % gaining the all-important A* to C grades.

Headteacher Geoff Barton said the stakes for GCSE success were higher than ever as competition for university places heats up.

“These results matter,” he said. “They open doors to college and sixth form places so we are thrilled to see our students do so well.”

Weeks of nervous waiting finally came to an end as pupils at County Upper School in the town tentatively opened their envelopes this morning.

Vicky Neale, headteacher, said she was delighted that 62% of her pupils had achieved more than five A* to C grade passes.

“Once again, at all levels of ability, our students have done fantastically well and I congratulate them all and thank our staff for the excellent teaching and support they gave them,” she said.

Hugh O’Neill, headteacher at St Benedict’s Catholic School in Bury, said he was pleased 69% of his students had gained more than five of the vital A* to C grades.

“The results were pretty excellent this year,” he said. “We are extremely pleased.”

At Thurston Community College 60% of students achieved the A* to C grades.

Vice principal Paul Potter said: “Students of Thurston Community College should be proud of themselves. These results are an acknowledgement of their hard work, commitment and passion for learning.”

The highest grades were obtained by Jessica Warren and Sarah Cottrell, who each came away with eight A*s and one A.

Andy Prestoe, a deputy headteacher at Samuel Ward Arts and Technology College in Haverhill, said their results had been “excellent”.

Half of students achieved five A* to C grades including English, maths and science. Also, 88% of all students achieved five A* to C grades, not including English and maths, and 28% of all the passes had three A* to A grades.

Mr Prestoe and Mark McCullough, also a deputy headteacher, said it had been another year of “outstanding academic success” at GCSE level for Samuel Ward students.

“We, in terms of academic success and value added, are extremely pleased as once again Samuel Ward has proven just how outstanding it is as a school.

“We would like to thank all our staff, community, students and parents for all their support in what is another successful day in the Haverhill story.”

Megan Willmore achieved six A*s and four As just like her brother Jacob.

David Forrest, headteacher at Sudbury Upper School, praised students for their efforts which saw the school achieve an overall pass rate of 59% in five subjects graded A* to C, not including English and Maths.

He said: “It has been delightful this morning to greet a whole range of students with their results and to see both high fliers and students with more modest grades moving onto their A-level courses, vocational college courses and apprenticeships.”

Great Cornard Upper School was slightly down on last year’s overall figure of 75%, (not including English and Maths) with a percentage pass rate of 72%.

Headteacher, Mike Foley, said: “After last week’s fantastic A-Level results this tops a wonderful week at the school for our students. The year group last year were very strong so I’m very pleased to see such a strong showing in our results.”

He added that it was not just about the high-flyers but the students who achieved more modest results who could now continue with further studies at school and college.