STUDENTS at West Somerset Community College have achieved the highest grades ever, this year's GCSE results have revealed.

A record 200 students - 61.5% - achieved at least five GCSEs at a grade C or higher - up 5.5% from 56% in 2005, and 11 students achieved ten or 11 A*/A grades.

Some 51.4% of students achieved five or more A*- C grades which also include English and Mathematics, a measure which will feature in the new government league tables.

A total of 164 A* grades were achieved, an increase of over 32% on last year's results, while the number of students achieving five or more A* - C grades has increased by 46% over the past five years.

Thirty three students achieved eight or more A and A* grades, and are therefore amongst the highest achieving students in the country. These were as follows: 10A* + 1A - Alice Martin, Claire Price; 9A* + 2A - Rosie Wilson; 2A* + 9A - Samantha Fewings; 10 A*/A grades - Alice Gover, Samantha Hole, Natalie Martin, Holly Robbins, Natasha Sear, Jason Strong, Briony Turner; 9 A*/A grades - James Bulpin, Ben Cowling, Alan Dawson, Anastasia Fawcett, James Golding, Vicky Guppy, Nicole Hadley, Melanie Julian, Abigail Lewis; 8 A*/A grades - Madeleine Culverhouse-Matthews, Phillip Dibble, Rhiannon Hall, Michael Harratt, Michelle Holroyd, Zoe Holroyd, Chloe Knight, James Miles, Polly Needs, Joseph Sanderson Sophie Thomas, Rachel Treloar, Joshua West.

A total of 20 Year 11 students who sat GCSE mathematics in Year 10, have just also completed all three modules in AS mathematics, normally only studied by Sixth Form students.

Eighteen achieved Advanced Level pass grades, with nine achieving A or B grades. Three students notched up phenomenally high scores of over 90% across the three papers: Ben Cowling (95%), Claire Price (95%) and Alice Martin (91%).

For the fifth year running the college entered a large number of students for GCSE Maths a year early.

This year 91 students took their maths GCSE in Year 10, with 96 % achieving a grade A*-C, and 49% achieving a grade A or A*.

College principal Nick Swann said: "Passing the 60% milestone for the proportion of students achieving five or more A*-C grades places us well above national and county averages.

"This success is a triumph for West Somerset and follows a tremendous amount of hard work from all 17 schools across the region.

"While GCSE courses are taught by college staff, who are clearly doing a superb job, the learning foundations are laid before young people join us.

"This is down to the excellent work of our three middle schools and thirteen first schools."