Pupils across Oxford are celebrating record GCSE success, with many schools announcing their best results to date.

Milham Ford Girls' School in Harberton Mead, Headington, announced its best results, with an overall pass rate of 96 per cent and 53 per cent of pupils gaining five A* to C grades.

Deputy headteacher Steve Jones said the school's average GCSE points score had increased significantly.

Milham Ford's success was tinged with sadness, as this is the penultimate year pupils will arrive at the school to collect GCSE results. The all-girls school is set to close in July 2002 under plans to reorganise Oxfordshire's education system.

Oxford High School, in Glanville Road, Oxford, reported the best GCSE performance in its history, with 91.53 per cent of pupils achieving A* and A grades.

The school's star pupil this year was Sarah Lewis, 15, from Headington, Oxford, with 11 A*s.

The school entered 80 candidates, of which 99.36 per cent attained A* to C grades.

The number of pupils at St Augustine of Canterbury RC/CE School gaining five A to C grades rose by two per cent compared to last year, with 91 per cent passing five GCSEs.

Headteacher Elisabeth Gilpin said: "I am very pleased for students of all abilities who have done well."

Twins James and Tim Sheppard, of Cranmer Road, Cowley, got up at 6am to collect their results. Tim gained eight A* grades and two As and James got two A* and three A grades.

Magdalen College School, Oxford, is celebrating a record exam performance. Nearly three-quarters of the grades achieved were As or A*s and a total of 14 boys gained straight As.

Pupils at Matthew Arnold School, in Arnold's Way, Cumnor, achieved the best results in the school's history, with 11 pupils gaining seven or more A or A* grades and 99 per cent of students passing at least one GCSE.

Pupils at Matthew Arnold School said they were delighted at the success.

Jenna Williams, of Botley, was overjoyed at achieving seven A*s and three As. She was also one of the top five performers in the country for two subjects - Business Studies and Social Sciences.

She said: "I wasn't going to do much to celebrate, but I think I'll have to now".

Results at Cheney School, in Cheney Lane, Headington, were the best to date.

Headteacher Alan Lane said the results included 347 grade As, a record 128 of which were A* passes. A total of seven students achieved ten or more grade As and 18 students gained grade As in eight or more subjects.

The Cherwell School, in Marston Ferry Road, Oxford, reported that GCSE results were slightly down on last year, but were better than anticipated. The school had a 93 per cent pass rate and 62 per cent of exam passes were at grades A to C. A total of 16 students passed all their subjects with As or A*s.

Rebecca Fisher achieved an outstanding success, gaining 10 A*s. The gifted youngster got one of five highest marks in the country for History and was the top geography student with the AQA examining group.

The overall GCSE points score achieved by pupils at Peers Technology College, in Sandy Lane West, Littlemore, has gone up this year. The number of pupils awarded one A* to G grade has also risen by two per cent, although the percentage of students gaining five A to C grades has dropped slightly compared to last year.

More than 55 per cent of pupils at Gosford Hill School, in Oxford Road, Kidlington, were awarded A* to C grades, with more than half of the school's GCSE candidates gaining five or more of the higher grades.

Results at The Marlborough CE School in Shipton Road, Woodstock, exceeded expectations, according to assistant headteacher Mr Clarrie Haynes.

The school's pass rate was the second highest in its history, with 64 per cent of pupils gaining A* to C grades.