SCHOOLS in Bishop's Stortford are praising the hard work and determination of pupils who achieved some of the highest A-level results ever.

Bishop's Stortford High School saw a 97 per cent pass rate. Jonathan Barker, Katherine Edwards, Thomas Fletcher, Jonathan Hughes, Daniel Powell and Kimberley Radford all achieved straight As, while Benjamin Fryer achieved four As, in French, Spanish, history and English literature.

Ben, 18, of Maple Avenue, said: "I'm very happy. I wasn't expecting it." He hopes to go to university in September to study law with French.

Daniel Powell, 18, overcame personal tragedy to achieve his three As, in French, history and English literature.

He said: "I was obviously very happy but was quite surprised. My mother died in January and it was an extremely difficult time so I wasn't expecting to do well at all."

He now plans to take a gap year in France before studying history at Cambridge.

Headteacher Andrew Goulding said: "I'm delighted with the results at all levels. They are a testament to the tremendous commitment shown by staff and students working together.

"One of the greatest pleasures in the teaching profession is to have a hand in the academic and personal development of young people and I'm particularly pleased that so many of our students will progress to courses in higher education at their first choice institutions. We're very proud of all our students."

At Herts and Essex High School, Kathryn Fleming, Naomi Saggers, Julia Dockerill, Katie Amott, Sarah Scott and Julie Sapsford achieved three As and hope to start university in September.

Kathryn, 18, of The Penningtons, studied chemistry, biology and physics and hopes to go to the University of Bristol to train as a vet. "I was really pleased with my grades. I needed to get at least two As and a B to get in. It was such a relief to have finally got the results."

Headteacher Sandra Buchanan said: "Not only have our students achieved a pass rate of 98.4 per cent this year, but the number of A grades has increased to 20 per cent of the total, a splendid achievement, the culmination of years of hard work on the part of the students and their teachers."

August 21, 2002 09:00