This morning, students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been collecting their A-level results.

In England, 26.2% of students received the top grades (A* and A), this is an increase of 0.4% on last year. This is the first time the A*-A pass rate has risen in six years.

In Ross-on-Wye, students at John Kyrle High School began filtering in to the hall at 9am, to find out how they did.Update: John Kyrle’s record of exceptional performance at A level continued this year; more than 60% of students gained the highest A*- B grades, 84% attained grades A*- C, and an overall pass rate of 99.7% was achieved. Of the 143 students who sat exams, almost 30% of all grades were A*- A. The performance of students is even more impressive, given the increasingly rigorous demands placed upon the qualification and the huge amount of variability in results seen nationally. Most students sat the more challenging reformed A levels. These are graded solely on exams taken at the end of the two-year course. Previous performance at AS level is not considered and there is far less coursework. There were very many excellent overall performances which have allowed students to progress to their first choice of university. Some of these include:Head Boy, Jack Parker, is going to Warwick to study English Literature; Head Girl, Bryony Wood, Bournemouth, Model Making; Theodore Beech, Aerospace Engineering, Bristol; Ella Boyce, nursing, Southampton; James Boyd, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, Sheffield; Imogen Croad, Chemistry, Nottingham; James Gough, Computer Science, Swansea; Thomas Goulding, Mathematics, Bath; Tom Green, Geology, Leicester; Freddie Hemingway, Geography, Birmingham; Jack Parnell, Apprenticeship, Defence Industry; Olivia Philp, Psychology, UCL; Stanley Piper, Psychology, Manchester; Renee Pritchard, Paramedic Science, Worcester; Olivia Reed, Nursing, Cardiff; Joseph Robins, Biology, Bristol; Ed Ross, MFL, Durham; Apollonia Walsh, Radiotherapy, Sheffield Hallam; Nina Warren, History and Politics, Oxford; Alice Wilson, Classics, Oxford.Read the full story in next week's edition of the Ross Gazette, out on Wednesday, August 23rd.