STUDENTS and staff at Okehampton College are celebrating, after hearing the news that this year?s A-level examination results are the best in the history of the school.
Months of hard work have paid off to produce the record of 98% passes at A-level ? and a substantial increase in high grades.
College principal Chris Powell said he was ?very, very pleased? at the news.
Mr Powell said: ?It?s the best set of results we have ever had and a number of students really did exceptionally well.
?I think basically it?s all down to some very hard work by the students and the staff.?
Mr Powell said he was particularly pleased with the maths, English and art results.
The A-level pass rate at Okehampton College has risen from 94% last year ? and this year, 66.4% of grades were within the A-C range.
Of the 51 students who took A-level exams this year, four deserve special mention. Pamela Collins, Peter Herrod-Taylor, Sarah Hillier and Anna Snellgrove all secured three A-grades in their exams.
John Stevens, chairman of governors at Okehampton College, said: ?These record results reflect the enormously hard work that has gone into the teaching of the students by the very dedicated staff and, of course, the work by the pupils themselves.
?It?s a great college and these results also reflect the hard work by the principal, who has made changes and innovations designed to improve the image of the school ? these results show they are now obviously bearing fruit.
?It?s a very exciting time for Okehampton College ? these A-level results are absolutely brilliant and I am very pleased.?
The good news rounds off a year of success for the college.
A new £2.4-million technology and ICT centre has been built at the school and is due to open this September.
And in July the college heard it had been granted status as a Specialist Technology College.
This attracted £100,000 worth of grant funding to build two new science laboratories and guarantees £140,000 a year for the next four years to be spent on improvements at the school.