STUDENTS and staff at The Grange School bucked the national trend with a record breaking A-level performance this year.

More than 28 per cent of entries were awarded the coveted A* grade ¬– the best that Grange students have achieved to date – with 68 per cent of grades at A or A* and 91 per cent at B grade or better.

Half of the 107 students achieved at least three A or A* grades, 10 of those gaining A* grades in all their A-levels.

AS Level results were also comfortably the best the school has seen by all measures, which bodes very well for next year.

Headteacher Chris Jeffery said: “The consistency of outstanding results that students at The Grange have established over the past 12 or so years is no accident: it arises from both the enormous dedication of hard working, ambitious students and the skilled, committed teaching of my colleagues, who so often go the extra mile in caring for and preparing our Sixth Formers so well.

“It also arises, we believe, from a school culture that gets its priorities right, aiming to put the all-round development of each individual ahead of a narrow focus on academic excellence; we firmly believe that the latter comes naturally as a result of the former.

“ Small class sizes, excellent facilities and an enormous breadth of opportunity beyond academic studies are all vital components of our students’ on-going and trend-bucking success”

Nationally, 8.2 per cent of students achieved A* grades and 52.4 per cent achieved grades within the A* to B range.