THE borough’s schools celebrated another year of “strong” A Level performances while Ucas reported a 3 per cent rise of teenagers gaining university placements.

Moulsham High, Kegs, Great Baddow High and Sandon School all reported outstanding student achievements, with all schools scoring more than 50 per cent A*-C.

Kegs achieved more than 89 per cent of grades in main subjects at *A-B – a school record – with A*-A at 67.9 per cent.

Headteacher Tom Carter said: “I was really delighted with the results.

“They are a reflection of the hard work and dedication of the students and staff.

“Today is about the pupils and their futures.”

More than half of all grades were A*-B at Moulsham High School, which also reported a 99 per cent pass rate of all A Levels taken.

Great Baddow School achieved 50 per cent at A*-B with a 98 per cent pass rate.

Both schools also achieved a 100 per cent pass rate in vocational courses.

Carrie Lynch, headteacher for Great Baddow High, said: “I’m really pleased with all of the results.

“Both AS and A level results have been really good this year and students have achieved more than what was achieved last year.

“We are thrilled for Ellie Foot (A*, A*, A) who will be starting Veterinary Science at Liverpool University, which is incredibly hard to get into.”

All schools told of similar success sories, with three Kegs students achieving five A*s.

One of those is “shocked” Poppy Oldroyd, 18, who spent about eight hours a day revising.

She said: “It’s a real sigh of relief, a lot of hard work has gone into this.

“It was a shock when I saw my results – I just didn’t believe it.

“I’m now going to study biomedical engineering at Imperial College London.”

She will be joined by classmate Aniket Chitre, 18, who also swept up with five A*s and two As at AS level.

He will study Chemical Engineering.

New Hall School, Boreham, celebrated a record 81 per cent of grades at A*-B, with 94 per cent of grades at A*-C.

School prefect Courtney Sanders gained one A* and three A grades and will read Law at the University of Oxford.

Abigail Wells achieved three A* and two A grades and will read Human, Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge.

The results came amid Ucas’s figures showing 424,000 pupils have been accepted to UK institutions — up three per cent on last year — the highest ever on A-level results day.

The Boswell School achieved 55 per cent of all grades at A*-B, an increase of over 2 per cent from last year.

A total of 83 per cent of all grades were at A*-C.

Chelmer Valley High School achieved passes of 50 per cent between A*-B.

Headteacher Claire Goodchild, said "We would like to congratulate all our students on their tremendous outcomes and on securing places at university, apprenticeships and work placements."