PETROC's Tiverton campus enjoyed another year of good A-level results with 7.2 per cent getting the coveted A* grade.

One of them was Laura Flint who achieved two A*s in biology and maths and another A grade in further maths.

"They're really good and better than I had expected," she said. "Now I'll be able to go and study maths at Warwick. The build-up to results day was very stressful, but tonight I can relax and have a drink with some friends who have also done well."

Jamie Wilson also managed to get an A* in biology as well as As in maths, further maths, physics and chemistry. He said: "I feel pretty good. It's better than I thought as I didn't think I'd get an A*, and now I can go to Bristol Uni to study physics. I was more nervous about getting my place at university, but now I have that the good grades is a bonus."

Sarah Zitney's main concern was her university place, and with here C in biology and Bs in geography and English she will be going to Bath Spa to study journalism.

She said: "The main thing is that I got my offer at university. There's a lot of stress, but it's really relieving to get the grades."

Head of college activity Penny Prior was pleased with the effort of staff and students: "We're very pleased yet again with our results at Tiverton. Our students have done well. As I was coming in this morning the radio said they were predicting 7 per cent A* grades across the country, and here at Petroc we have 7.2 per cent A*.

"Overall the staff and students have worked hard and if you work hard you should get results to look forward to."

Teacher Russell North also joined his students in celebrating the results with his pupils. He said: "Most are happy about their grades, and it's a really nice environment here today. This is what you work all year for to see them pick up their results.

"I don't think they are getting easier. The stringency and level of detail that markers now look for is higher."

The majority of students at Queen Elizabeth's Community College in Crediton got a place at their first-choice university.

Among the school's top achievers were Reuben Hill, 18, and Esme Jones, 17, both from Crediton, who achieved four A* grades. Samuel Munday, 18, from Sandford, achieved A* grades in biology and maths and an A in chemistry.

"I'm really pleased," he said. "I got some champagne for my birthday in May so I'll crack that open. I can't wait till October. I'm going to do biochemistry at Imperial College London."

Josh Curtis, 18, from Newton St Cyres, was pleased he got the two Bs and a C he needed to secure his place at Leeds Met to study sports marketing.

"I'm very excited and looking forward to the future," he said.

Principal Richard Newton- Chance said the QECC staff were pleased with the strong results across the broad range of subjects and qualifications offered.

He said: "Science, maths, geography, English and design technology subjects did very well, which as a specialist humanities and technology college we are particularly pleased with."

Overall, the pass rate was 98 percent, and 75 percent achieved a grade C or above. In line with the national figure, around eight per cent achieved one of the new A* grades.

Chemistry teacher and sixth form tutor Tamara Savchenko said: "They're incredible students — hard-working, determined and ambitious — and they deserve their results because of the amount of effort they've put in."

The school was also pleased with the AS-level results achieved by the Year 12 students.

Laura Cann, 17, from Crediton, was delighted that her results were better than she expected. "I'm really happy and I'm definitely feeling more confident about next year," she said.

Ian Davenport, head of Blundell's School in Tiverton, says his students have vastly exceeded the number of predicted new A* grades at A-level with ten per cent of grades awarded at the top level.

Mr Davenport said as this was the first year the grade was introduced, the school had been cautious in forecasting how many such grades could be achieved. The new higher level grade was awarded to pupils who gain more than 90 per cent in their A2 examination.

Mr Davenport said: "There were some wonderful performances, with one pupil Henrietta Mills gaining four A*s, which is an outstanding result indeed. I was very pleased that 10 per cent of the grades were A*s."

Eleven candidates achieved three A grades or better, with another 21 achieving ABB or better. Nearly half achieved three B grades or better.

"All those who had offers from Oxford and Cambridge have got in to their chosen college and most of our students have got the grades they needed to go on to university," said Mr Davenport.

Among the best results were: Henrietta Mills A*A*A*A*, William McBarnett A*A*A, Hugh McDowell A*A*A, David Malcolm A*A*AB, Wilson Li A*A*AB, Sophie Keatley A*AA, George House A*AA, William Watson A*AA, Cupid Zhu A*AABD, Natalie Waddington AAA, Lily Swan AAA.