Eager students queued outside Highbury Fields School this morning to collect their GCSE results, and for many of them it was worth the wait.

Islington Gazette: Highbury Fields student May Southwood, who racked up nine A*sHighbury Fields student May Southwood, who racked up nine A*s (Image: Archant)

An impressive 89 per cent of the Year 11 girls got A* to C in English literature, with 82 per cent doing the same for English language and 72 per cent for maths.

Star of the show was Katy Young, who got a not-too-shabby 10 A* grades. She was one of six to get at least nine A* grades.

“I wasn’t expecting it,” she said. “I was expecting As but not A*s, it’s amazing. I’m most proud of the maths result because after the paper I thought I hadn’t got it.”

May Southwood was also top of the class. She got nine A*s and after a minute or two to let it sink in, she told the Gazette: “It’s surreal. I was certain I was going to get a couple of Us. It’s better than I could possibly have hoped for.”

Islington Gazette: Nouha AldarajiNouha Aldaraji (Image: Archant)

Also celebrating was Nouha Aldaraji, who got two A*s seven As and a B.

“It’s better than I expected, but I expected the worst case scenario!” she said.

Headteacher Gladys Berry praised the youngsters for their “fantastic achievements” across a whole range of subjects.

She told the Gazette: “The results truly demonstrate how well rounded and dedicated our students are. Such results do not happen by accident.

“We really look at the individual here. We do get really good grades but it’s not all about that.”

For more GCSE stories and analysis from the Gazette, click here.