STUDENTS at Rivington and Blackrod High School were all smiles after the school celebrated excellent results yesterday.

Across the year, 61 per cent of students achieved the benchmark of five or more A* to C grades including English and Maths, an increase of 10 per cent on last year.

The top performers included Iran Hassan and Hannah Worthington who both got seven A * grades, with Charlotte Fletcher close behind on six A * grades.

It has been a great week for Rivi student Iqra Raheel, aged 16, who last week celebrated achieving an A grade in AS maths, which she took a year early. She followed this with an excellent set of GCSE results, including five A*, four As and two Bs.

Iqra said: “I am feeling great after getting my results, I will be going to Winstanley College to carry on with maths and also study further maths.

“Maths is a subject I have always been quite good at and I do enjoy it - but I would like to study medicine in the future.”

Another star pupil at the school was 16-year-old Julian Wyatt, who achieved four A*, four As and 2 Bs.

He said: “I am really happy and quite shocked, there are some I thought I would do well in but others I wasn’t sure about.

“I am now planning on going to study at the UTC in Media City in Salford and will be doing physics and maths A-level as well as a B-Tech in interactive media and gaming, I’m really looking forward to it.”

Headteacher Tony Purcell said: “We are delighted by this year’s results.

“Well done to all of our students.”