The wait is over for thousands of students as the GCSE results roll in. Chief reporter LINDA PIPER reports on how things went in Bexley schools ...

SCHOOL pupils across Bexley are celebrating record GCSE results with some students gaining the top A* grades.

At Townley Girls' Grammar School, Bexleyheath, all 183 students gained at least five passes in A* to C grades.

Top of the year was Angela Tam with 10 A* grades and one A. Rosalyn Tandy, Charlotte Mace and Sarah Casserta each achieved nine A* grades; Rea Slack and Mardeep Mathana, eight A* grades and one A.

Star pupil at St Mary and St Joseph's RC School, Sidcup, was Jonathan Leslie with eight A* grades and a distinction in GNVQ for information and communication technology the equivalent of four A* GCSEs. He was closely followed by Sarah Eldridge with 11 A grades and Yvonne Kay with nine A grades.

The Catholic comprehensive, which will soon close to make way for a sixth-form college, achieved its best-ever results with 65.5 per cent passes at A* to C and a 98.6 per cent pass rate over all.

At Bexley Grammar School, Welling, seven students scored A* and A grades exclusively and 37 per cent of all results were in the top two grades. Star students were Adam Cruft with 10 A* grades and one A; Mark Johannesen, seven A* and four A grades and Hannah Greenall, eight A* and two A grades .

Beths Grammar School, Bexley Village, achieved a 100 per cent pass rate with 87 per cent in the top four grades. Top results came from Quasim Chaudry with nine A* and three A grades, David Taylor with eight A* and five A grades and Chris Osbourne with seven A* and four A grades.

Among the high achievers at Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School, Sidcup, where the overall pass rate was 96.6, were Peter Watson 10 A* grades; Laurie Carter and Kelly Marie Hull with nine A* grades and one A and Jolyon Bond and Jason Lobo with eight A* and two A grades.

There were more best-ever results at St Catherine's RC Girls' School, Bexleyheath. The Catholic comprehensive scored a 99 per cent pass rate, 75 per cent in the top four grades.

Sarah Munday achieved seven A* and three A grades and Cynthia Madzira, five A* grades, three As and a B.

Trinity CofE School, Belvedere, was delighted with its 46 per cent passes at A* to C and 100 per cent pass rate. Of its 153 students, 63 gained nine or more passes at grade C or above.

Priya Varsani from Blackfen Girls' School gained all A* and A grades and 11 students achieved A* to B grades, in a percentage pass rate of 98.5 per cent.

At Hurstmere School, Sidcup, more than half the boys got passes at A* to C grades and Ian Davis got nine passes in the top four grades.

Two Erith School pupils came in the top five results in the country for one subject Rosy Tu in food technology and Artem Kuzhakhmetov in Russian. Top performer was Sheila Ung with three A* grades, seven As and one B.

And the Bexley Business Academy continued to climb the results tables. Just two years ago only six per cent of pupils achieved five passes in the top four grades this year it was 36 per cent and 100 per cent of the pupils got at least one GCSE compared with 90 per cent two years ago.