THE 'tradition of excellence' has continued at Sir John Deane’s Sixth Form College despite 'significant reform', the school's principal.

More than 100 students from the college swept the board with top level grades (A* or A) in their A-Levels.

Just under1000 students from Sir John Deane’s, which was recently ranked as the second highest achieving sixth form college in the country, achieved one of the top grades in their A-Level.

More than 62 per cent of the exam entries were awarded a high grade of A*, A or B, the gold standard that students need to get into the best universities.

There were some incredible individual successes with 107 students achieving all As and A*s and 19 students gaining three A*s or better.

Thomas Marquand, departing head boy and Sir John Deane’s 2017 Saner Award winner, achieved five A*s and Dominic Green achieved four A*s.

More than a third (34 per cent) of the A-Level results were at the top grades (A* or A), which outperforms the national average by 8 per cent.

The Kingsmead-based college also boasts a pass rate of 99 per cent. The results were awarded at a time of significant reform to A-Level and AS qualifications.

A delighted Kerry Kirkwood, principal at Sir John Deane’s, said: “The tradition of excellence at Sir John Deane’s continues during changing times and once again our students have achieved outstanding results.

“Throughout their two years they have demonstrated exceptional ambition, resilience and commitment, with the support of our incredible teachers.

“This is what makes our winning formula so unique and why students do even better here.

“I’d like to offer my warmest congratulations to everyone.”

An impressive 1,300 students achieved at least one high grade, which means 85 per cent of the entire sixth form college experienced high grade success.

There was 100 per cent pass rates in 26 subjects with particularly outstanding results in the so-called facilitating subjects, which are the subjects most valued by the top universities.

In these subjects 43 per cent of the students achieved grades no worse than an A, with Mathematics and Chemistry having very strong performances.

Other core subjects including the humanities, sciences and languages did particularly well – all significantly above the national average for A* to B grades.

Patrick Heath, 18, is achieved three As in Biology, Chemistry and Maths.

He is off to the University of Sheffield to study Bio Chemistry.

"I needed to get two As and a B," he said.

"It's amazing but I was quite stressed.

"I barely slept last night. I felt really nervous this morning. I felt a bit sick."