Pupils at one of the county's top private schools are celebrating after gaining a record number of offers from Oxbridge.

A total of 16 sixth-formers at St Edward's School, in Woodstock Road, Oxford have secured offers at Oxford and Cambridge universities -- the highest number in the school's history.

More than 30 students applied to colleges in Oxford and Cambridge for places, giving the school a 50 per cent success rate. The offers are equally divided between girls and boys, and between the two universities.

Before taking up their places, the pupils must obtain specified grades in their A-levels this summer.

The successful group all took part in the school's Scholarship Scheme seminars, a series of workshops designed to prepare them for the universities' selection process.

Senior tutor Ian Rowley said: "It has been a good year for Oxbridge offers and the numbers are substantially up on previous years."

The teenagers plan to study subjects ranging from physics and philosophy to Chinese.

Nicholas Davey, 17, is set to read French and Latin at Trinity College, Oxford. He said: "The school has developed our skills and honed them."