There were tears of joy and relief at Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School this morning as pupils arrived to see their results.

%image(15684446, type="article-full", alt="Eponine Laming-Nash (left) and Lois Davey on results day")

It has been a testing year for the school, which moved onto a newly-built site midway through the year, and had high standards to maintain from 2016 when they had a 100% pass rate.

But headmistress Theodora Nickson told the Welwyn Hatfield Times: “We are celebrating an excellent set of results.

“In a year when there has been much speculation about the impact of linear assessment on A Levels, we are very pleased that we have been able to maintain our standards overall and see improvements in maths and the sciences.”

Oustanding achievers include Maryam Aboughdir, Siobhan Boswood, Amber Hughes and Katie Wakeling, who received all As or A*s.

%image(15684448, type="article-full", alt="Holly Robertson says her A* in history was "totally unexpected"")

Maryam, who is assured a place at St George’s in London to study medicine, said: “It’s way more than I expected - after the exams I thought there was no hope!”

Siobhan told the Welwyn Hatfield Times that she will take a gap year before deciding what to do with her stellar results in chemistry, maths, further maths and biology: “I’ve got the grades to do whatever I want,” she said.

Many pupils were delighted to achieve higher grades than predicted. Eponine Laming-Nash, described by Ms Nickson as “absolutely driven,” earned all B grades in subjects she expected Cs in.

Taking drama, media studies and English literature, Eponine has already landed herself a job with IMG media production company.

%image(15684450, type="article-full", alt="All As and A*s: Amber Hughes (left) and Siobhan Boswood")

“I honestly didn’t think I’d make it to university,” said Dilana Kose, who is heading to the University of Hertfordshire to study international business with her two starred Distinctions in travel and tourism and business, and a C in media.

“It’s been the best journey of my life.”

• For more A-level results day news, visit our Education section at www.whtimes.co.uk/news/education

%image(15684451, type="article-full", alt="Smiles of relief as the waiting for A-level results is over")

%image(15684455, type="article-full", alt="Bishop's Hatfield Girls' School pupils moved into a brand new building in January 2017.")

%image(15684456, type="article-full", alt="Amber Hughes (right) congratulates Mayram Aboughdir on her stellar results")