For half a million teenagers across the country, the day they had been waiting for finally came around.

Teenagers across Dartford, Greenwich, and Bexley celebrated as months of hard work paid off with some fantastic GCSE results.

A new grading system and tougher exams meant that there was a slight dip in pass rates, but there were still success stories a plenty.

In England, the English literature pass-rate fell 2.2 percentage points to 72.4 per cent. In maths it dropped from 71.4 to 70.7 per cent. Both are new, tougher exams.

There were some fantastic results coming from Townley Grammar School with the number of students achieving an A*-A or equivalent standing at 68.92 per cent.

In the new Maths and English grading 25 per cent of grades were at a 9 – equivalent to an A*+.

High achievers include Charlotte Dillon, who achieved 9- A*s and 3 9s, Jesmine Dhooper who achieved 8 A*s and 3 9s, and Miriam Agiru and Tolu Duckworth-Essilfie achieved 7 – A*s, 3 – 9s and 1 A.

Students at Orchards Academy in Swanley also secured excellent GCSE examination results, with a spokesman for the school saying: "We are particularly proud of our rates of progress which are exemplary and continue to be a strength of this school.”

At Cleeve Park School 12 subject areas achieved over 80 per cent A*-C grades including MFL, Art, Business, Drama, Music, Photography, RS, product design, Biology and Physics.

One success story was Nicky Byrne who achieved nine A*-A grades.

At Beths Grammar School half of all qualifications are either A* or A grades or the equivalent new 9-7 grading.

Some of the top achievers include Erikas Kymantas who achieved 8 A*s and 3 9s at GCSE and a grade C in AS Computing and Joshua Abu, who achieved 8 A*s, 1 A and a 9 in Maths at GCSE.

At the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Crayford Academy 75 per cent of pupils were able to secure a pass grade or higher in their English examination and 71 per cent in mathematics, both above the national standard.

20 per cent of Crayford Academy pupils recorded an A*-A in maths and 17 per cent in English.

Alfie Andrews, Stephen Barlow, Jack Candy, April Fisher, Tia Hamilton, Henry Mccarron, Harry Stuart and Sam Tyrrell all secured the much coveted Grade 9 in these subjects.

The Garrard Academy celebrated its best ever GCSE results.

Interim Principal Mark Cleave said: “I am really thrilled that the hard work and dedication of the students and their teachers has been rewarded with such amazing results."

Alleyn’s School in Dulwich had a remarkable set of results this year, with 92 per cent of all grades at A* or A.

The almost 400-year-old school has evidently refined its teaching craft over those years, with 92 of their 142 pupils achieving all A* and A grades, with 33 individual pupils securing 10 or more A* grades.

Dr Gary Savage, headmaster, said: “Alleyn’s boys and girls have once again excelled themselves in public examinations, and everyone at School is hugely proud of what they have achieved.

“They are well and truly ready for the step-up to academic life in the Sixth Form, where they will also enjoy a multitude of co-curricular activities, enrichment opportunities, and lasting friendships”

Woolwich’s Joshua Baker at Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy is already something of a prodigy, having completed his Maths GCSE three years ago when in Year 8 where he achieved an A*.

Last week, he collected his A Level results in Maths and Further Maths and achieved A* grades in both subjects.

On Thursday he received the rest of his GCSEs and any chance that maybe he had put all his intelligence points into Maths at the detriment of other areas has been thoroughly dashed.

He is celebrating a clean sweep of Grade 9s and A*s in all 10 of his GCSE subjects: English Literature (Grade 9), English Language (Grade 9); with seven A*s in Further Additional Science, Additional Science, Core Science, History, French, Spanish and RE.

David Millar, executive principal at Stationers’ Crown Woods Academy, said: “Securing top grades in all his GCSEs and A Levels in the same year is quite simply outstanding. Joshua is an extraordinarily gifted young man and fully deserves his success.”

So where next for this genius? For now he will remain at the Academy Sixth Form and continue his studies by taking STEP papers in mathematics in preparation to take Maths at one of London's top universities.

Bromley and Lewisham students were seen jumping for joy yesterday when the GCSE results were announced. 

Across the country there were tears of joy and maybe a few of sorrow. 
Girls from Bromley High School posed in front of cameras and jumped for joy when their results came in. 
The school performed well with 47 per cent of all GCSE entries graded A*. 

Bromley High showed that their students have a wealth of musical talent. Every single student who took a music GCSE got an A* or an A.   

Headteacher Angela Drew said: "I am so proud of a wonderful group of girls who have worked incredibly hard with their teachers to achieve these superb results whilst maintaining such enthusiastic commitment to Music, Sport, Drama, Debating and all the other activities Bromley High has to offer."

Newstead Wood School in Orpington had some fantastic overall results as 53.9 per cent achieved A*/8/9 and 85 per cent got A*/A/7/8/9 grade.
Fourteen Students achieved A*/8/9 grades in all subjects and 24 achieved three grade 9s in their English and Maths GCSE’s.

Headteacher Nick Webb said: “We are delighted on another superb set of GCSE results and pass our congratulations to all our students, their families and our staff.”

There were some impressive individual results at Langley Park School for Boys. 

Success stories included Joel Hutchings who achieved three Grade 9s, five A*s and an A.

Robert Sidey achieved two Grade 9s, a Grade 8 and six A*s. William Steele and Thomas Stevenson both achieved two Grade 9s, five A*s and two As, Harrison Gent achieved two Grade 9s, four A*s and two As and Sam Storey got two Grade 8s, five A*s and an A.
Students from Bishop Justus C of E School on Magpie Hall Ln, Bromley made parents and teachers proud with some fantastic individual success stories. 

Richard Hussey smashed his exams and got 9s in English Language and Maths, 1 double A* Further Maths, eight A* and two As.
Carol Hussey pulled off a 9 in Maths, six A*, three As and two Bs.
Samuel Johnston got 9s in Maths and English Literature, two A*s, seven As and two Bs.

At Kemnal Technology College on Sevenoaks Way, Orpington a number of students gained outstanding results. These included Andrew Sharp and Muhammed Khan who acheived eight A*-A grades and Armend Kasami-Mehmeti who got seven A*-A grades.

At Addey and Stanhope School in Deptford, pupils enjoyed some considerable successes notably in English, but French, History, 

The school brought out their traditional ice-cream truck as pupils waited to get their GCSE results.

For many, success was sweet but an ice cream was on hand for those who didn’t do as well as they had hoped.  

As for ice-creams that performed well, local ice-cream van man Dervis Salih said: “This year the most popular ice-cream has been vanilla, but bright-blue bubble-gum is also in demand.”

Sydenham High girls were literally jumping for joy when they got their results. A happy student was seen jumping and doing an impressive areal splits. 

Over 80 per cent of all three science results were A* or A with a record 96 percent in Biology, 95 per cent in Physics and 82 percent in Chemistry.

Ten students opened their envelopes to find they had scored a full house of A*s and As across all subjects, meanwhile a further seven students achieved 10 or more A*s. 

Headteacher Katharine Woodcock said: “Congratulations to all our year 11 pupils on their excellent GCSE results. We are extremely proud of the girls and their strong performance is testament to their hard work and that of their teachers. Well done to all.”

Sydenham School recently finished a £24m rebuild with beautifully-landscaped outdoor spaces.

Languages were a high point for Sydenham School GCSEs, including Spanish (90 per cent A*-C), French (81 per cent A*-C), and Latin (92 per cent A/A*).

At Conisborough College Lauryn Green bagged two Grade 9s, one A* and three As, and Zechariah Polevoi got three A*s, three As and a Grade 9.
Headteacher Stuart Mundy said: “Our Year 11 cohort worked extremely hard and I am very proud of their achievements. I would like to wish them all every success in their post 16 studies.”