THERE were mass celebrations in schools and colleges as pupils received their A level results.

Tens of thousands of teenagers made one last journey back to their colleges and sixth forms to collect results for their A-Levels and level three vocational diplomas and find out if their hard work had paid off.

Ringwood School achieved a 99.6 per cent pass rate and with their largest ever cohort.

The percentage of grades awarded at A*- A increased to 25 per cent with 53% of all grades awarded at A*- B.

Across the country record numbers of students have been offered university places, as the latest A-level results show the gap between boys and girls achieving the very top grades has narrowed for the first time in five years.