THE percentage of students who gained five GCSE A*-C grades at Okehampton College was 57%, slightly down on last year?s best ever performance. But college principal Chris Powell said this still represented a good set of results. He said: ?Girls have done significantly better than boys, although there were some impressive performances from individuals. ?The results give a lot of young people a good stepping stone to the next stage of education or into employment.? Mr Powell said there were good results in subjects across all areas of the curriculum, but he was particularly pleased with the results in technology subjects. There were many happy students at the college last week celebrating success in their GCSEs. Steven Woollacott, who lives near Halwill, gained a number of A* and A grades, but said he was most pleased with his B grade in Maths, a subject which he said he always found difficult. He is planning to continue his studies in the sixth form next year, taking English literature, English language, music and French. Friends Emma Littlejohn and Becky Rowe were also celebrating their results, gaining all A*-C grades and going on to sixth form studies in September. Robert Saunders, from Okehampton, said he was pleased to have got the grades he needed to continue into the sixth form, where he will study music technology, systems and control and physics. Daryl Chapman, vice-principal at Okehampton College said: ?Some of the performances we have seen by the students this year have been exceptional. ?We have lots of talented children who are supported by their parents and our excellent staff.? l Following the 100 per cent pass rate at A-Level last week, it was all smiles at Shebbear College yet again when pupils collected their GCSE results. This year, 81.3 per cent of pupils achieved at least 5 A*-C grades ? 89.9% of all passes were between A* and C, representing a 10% improvement on last year. Headmaster, Bob Barnes, was particularly pleased to note that nearly 40% of passes were A* or A grades. He offered his sincere congratulations to all pupils and their teaching staff.