There were shouts of happiness and even tears of joy at secondary schools across Brentwood today as youngsters collected their hard-won GCSE results.

Many will now go on to study for A Levels or BTEC qualifications at local sixth forms or colleges and others will soon be starting apprenticeships.

See how your school performed below....

Brentwood School 

Students had reason to celebrate at Brentwood School as 26 per cent of all the grades were A*, 59 per cent were A* to A, 86 per cent were A* - B and 97 per cent were A* to C. 

Seven students from Brentwood School are celebrating a clean sweep of A* Grades including Hannah Allan, Daniel Blockley, James Elms, Georgina Henwood, Caolán McConnaughie, Henry Mead and Lloyd Richards, who all achieved 11 A*s.

James Elms, who is now going to be tackling Greek, Latin, English and Philosophy at A Level in the Sixth Form, with a view to studying Classics at university, was keen to pay tribute to Miss Athey who helped him achieve the highest grade possible in Geography.

With a wry smile, characteristically modest Caolán McConnaughie, who was also celebrating 11 A*s, put his success down to his ‘excellent’ Chemistry teacher – (Caolán’s proud father is the School’s Chaplain and new Head of Chemistry, Revd Dr Adrian McConnaughie). Caolán will now study Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Geography, with the aim of one day moving into Vulcan Geology.

High-flier Henry Mead, who is looking forward to a future in Medicine or Finance, credited his 11 A*s to ‘having friends to study with and teachers who were always available’. He had also put in ‘a lot of effort’.  Henry said he was surprised to see straight A*s on his results letter as he had a couple of comparatively weaker subjects. He will now study Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Biology in the Sixth Form.

His very proud mum, Mrs Archie Mead, said: “I am over the moon. The teaching here has been excellent. Henry’s success is down to the teachers and his efforts.”

Lloyd Richards, who was also part of the magnificent seven who secured 11 straight A*s, said he prepared really well for the exams and felt he had been in with a good chance of performing well. He will now study Spanish, French, Economics and Maths at A Level with a view to studying Economics or Business Management in the future – maybe even at Oxbridge. He was off to phone anxious grandparents and enjoy a celebratory meal with his family.

This year’s results, which rank in the school’s top 5 performances of all time, saw no less than 31 students receive all A* or A Grades, and 11 students receiving 10 or more A*s.

School Bass Guitarist Peter Scott, who hopes to follow a path in Engineering in later life, was delighted with his 10 A*s and 1 A and will now be studying Physics, Chemistry, Further Maths and Music at A Level.

He said “I was doing really badly in RE and Mr Clements helped me get through the exam with lots of extra tips.”

Keen artist Lucy Pryor achieved 5 A* and 6As and is hoping that her A Level subjects Biology, PE, Geography and Art will enable her to go on to pursue a career in Physiotherapy. “The whole Art department were fantastic and encouraged me to pursue the subject”

For the third year running, students at Brentwood sat the more difficult International GCSE in Science subjects (Chemistry, Physics and Biology), English, Mathematics, Computing and some Modern Languages.

With particularly strong performances in Mathematics (with 67 per cent of all grades at A* or A), Biology, Music and Modern Languages, the School is also proud of the way it has guided students, who have struggled to reach their potential, to exceed expectations.

One such student was a clearly emotional Talia Ware, who was met with a D for English Language in her mock exams but soared to an A in the final exam. She praised the support she received from English teacher Miss Browett.

Chris Hall, who joined the School in the Fourth Year to take his GCSEs is delighted that he’ll now be continuing through to the Sixth Form. He said: “I got a C and D for my Double Science mocks and ended up with an A and a B. Along with Miss Holding and Mrs Khush (Head and Deputy Head of Year), my mentor Mr Barnett, who was also my Maths teacher, helped me through the exam period with revision timetables and lots of encouragement.”

With an eye on the legal profession, Chris will now go on to study Politics, Economics, Photography and Psychology at A Level.

Headmaster Ian Davies said: “Our pupils have worked extremely hard and these results show outstanding performances of which they should all be very proud.

"Praise must also go to our wonderful teaching staff who educate and support them throughout their school life.

"Although we have high expectations, our students often exceed them, and the opportunity to help them achieve their potential is what continues to motivate us year after year.”

Brentwood County High School 

Pupils at Brentwood County High School were delighted as 62 per cent of them achieved five or more A* to C grades. 

Stephen Drew, headteacher, said: "After celebrating record A-Level results last week, we are disappointed to not have seen the same progress with our GCSE results at BCHS in 2015.

"I congratulate the large number of our students who have achieved excellent results across the full range of their subjects in their GCSEs.

"The two results days bring highs and lows for everyone involved. Last week we were celebrating great success, this week we are reflecting on how to bounce back again in 2016.”

Shenfield High School 

At Shenfield High School there were notable performances from individuals and from subjects. 

Art and Music students achieved 100 per cent A* to C grades, while 63 per cent of the Drama GCSE grades were A*s and As. 

Maths achieved 72 per cent A* to C with and English Literature achieving  74 per cent A* to C. 

Core and Additional Science grades were 78 per cent and 75 per cent A* - C.  

Economics, Spanish and Media each achieved over 80 per cent A* to C with several other subjects achieving around three quarters of A* to C grades.

72% of the year group achieved at least five A* to C grades.

Exceptional performances were made by Hughie Elgar, with ten 10 A* and two As, Catherine Folkson, who gained nine A* and three As, Ben Simpson – who achieved seven A*, three As, one B and one C, Chloe Moss –  who got six A*,  five As, and one B and Jonathan Miles who had five A*, four As and two Bs.

Brentwood Ursuline Convent High School

Headteacher Dr Richard Wilkin said: "We are delighted with the high percentage achieved this year for 5+ A*-C including Maths and English.

"The high percentage of A*-A grades is particularly pleasing, with no fewer than 20 students achieving more than 8 A*-A grades across the board.

"We should, however, also celebrate the achievement of the majority of students who have made tremendous progress in the last two years, whatever their eventual grade. Science has been a particular success for us this year, with the vast majority of those who took Biology, Chemistry and Physics achieving A*-A grades.

"Whilst we are proud of these results, we know that even greater success lies ahead, thanks to the improvements that we have made over the last couple of years. We will not be satisfied with anything less than excellence.

"We look forward to welcoming our own students back into the Sixth Form, along with a large number of external candidates who want to experience the hardworking and exciting atmosphere of the Ursuline."