Stanborough School in Welwyn Garden City became the scene of very mixed emotions this morning, as sixth-formers visited to discover their exam results.

Candidates picking up A-level results learned whether they could go to chosen universities, while 17-year-olds also arrived at the Lemsford Lane school to find out how they had done in their interim AS-level exams.

High-achieving 18-year-olds included Luc Elliott of Hatfield Garden Village, and Toma Popov of Boundary Lane, Welwyn Garden City.

Luc, who scored two As, an A* and a B, told the Welwyn Hatfield Times: “I am very proud.”

He plans a degree in biochemistry and has particular interests in parasites and tropical diseases.

Toma, with two A and two A* grades, said: “It is exactly what I hoped for.”

He will take a degree in maths and computer science at Imperial College, London.

Jodie Phillips of Howlands, Welwyn Garden City, confessed slight disappointment, although her grades, two Cs and a B, are good enough for her chosen degree course - psychology at Bournemouth University.

She said: “I am kind of happy, but I wanted a B in psychology.

“I find psychology really interesting. It is all about how the mind develops.”

Fellow 18-year-old Sophie Voutt of Hall Grove, Welwyn Garden City, will be studying Spanish and business at Reading University, as she has won A-level grades of ABC.

She said: “We go to Spain a lot on family holidays. I love Spanish culture.”

Budding aeronautical engineer Leo Alder, 17 of Eddington Crescent, Welwyn Garden City was happy with his AS results- five As and a C – as a good grounding for his last year of schooling before a degree.

He explained he was building an aeroplane with a 1,350-millimetre wingspan in his bedroom, and was confident it would soon be airborne.

Bailey Webb, 17, of Cranborne Road,Hatfield, put a different perspective on academic success.

He told the Welwyn Hatfield Times: “I have not done great, but I was always going to leave the sixth form. It is not for me.”

A promising rugby player whose trial for Saracens was frustrated by injury, he has been offered a scholarship, based at Oaklands College, by top premiership team Wasps.

• For more exam results news, visit the Welwyn Hatfield Times’ Education section.