Reflecting the national trend, girls outperformed boys with all 95 girls at Lady Eleanor Holles School in Hampton passing their exams.

Headteacher Elizabeth Candy said: "We are very pleased with the results. Over 30 girls achieved either four or five A-level passes and Gail Trimble, who has a place at Oxford, has been awarded one of the top five marks in the country in A level General Studies, out of 44,113 candidates who sat the examination."

Students at Richmond College exceeded expectations with the pass rate up three per cent on last year.

The 2,741 candidates achieved a 90 per cent pass rate and scored highly in maths, science, geology and geography, figures which stood out against a national picture of declining results in those subjects.

Richmond's results mirrored the national trend, with girls scoring more highly than boys in the exams.

College principal, Eric Kirby, said: "I congratulate our students on their well-deserved success. These impressive results are a tribute to the college's dedicated teaching staff as well as to the students who have seen their efforts so well rewarded."

Richmond's chief education officer Anji Phillips said: "Students from partner schools have achieved a very high level of success with a pass rate of 92.9 percent compared with a national pass rate of 89.1 per cent and this speaks volumes for the tertiary system."