ONE of the best! That?s Okehampton College student Joanna Tope. She gained full marks in her English Literature GCSE exam ? putting her in the top five of the hundreds of thousands of students nationwide who took the subject. Joanna gained 10 A*s and two As, and celebrated with her friends when they picked up their results from the college last Thursday morning. In addition, the college received a letter from the English Literature examination board informing them that out of 365,000 GCSE candidates, Joanna was among the top five in the country. Joanna, 16, said: ?I enjoy English, it has always been my favourite subject.? But she said she had been surprised to gain an A* in the exam she sat earlier in the summer. ?I didn?t feel particularly good about it. I didn?t like the questions we were given and I didn?t think it was one of my better essays,? she said. Students? grades were based on a combination of marks taken from coursework and from the two-part exam featuring questions on a set text and on a selection of poetry. The set text for Joanna?s English class taught by Charlotte Edwards was Harper Lee?s novel, To Kill A Mockingbird. ?It was a book that was easy to pick out themes from in the exam, but also a really good read,? she said. Joanna, who lives at Germansweek, revealed she had also been worried about some of her other exams: ?I thought I had done really, really badly in IT and business studies.? But she was surprised and delighted to open the results envelope to find out she had gained an A in the subject and had exceeded her prediction of six A*s. Joanna said she tried to keep calm in the days leading up to the results day: ?If I thought about it I probably would have been nervous but I tried to put it out of my mind.? Joanna gained A*s in English (literature and language), maths, science (double award), religious education, French, history, graphics and geography and an A in IT and business studies. She is now going to study five A-levels at the college?s sixth form ? economics, maths, history, English language and law. College principal Chris Powell congratulated Joanna on her achievement and said he had been extremely pleased to receive the letter from the examination board noting she had achieved one of the top five results in the country. Mr Powell said: ?It just goes to show that bright youngsters can succeed in comprehensive schools?. And he said although sitting five A-levels was demanding for any student, he was confident Joanna had demonstrated the ability to continuing her academic success.