THOUSANDS of students were celebrating last night after Oxfordshire’s A-Level pass rate topped the national average.

Magdalen College was the county’s best performing private school, while Bartholomew School in Eynsham was the top state school when it came to pupils achieving the most A* to B grades. The Cherwell School, in Marston Ferry Road, was Oxford’s highest performing state school.

The overall pass rate in England for grades A* to E was 97.6 per cent, but in Oxfordshire it was 99 per cent. Abingdon & Witney College was Oxfordshire’s worst performing centre, with a 95 per cent overall pass rate.

Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for schools improvement, Michael Waine, paid tribute to students and staff.

He said: “Everyone is really delighted for the significant number of students who have today attained some particularly outstanding results.

“This is a clear testament to their undoubted commitment and hard work.

“As you will be aware, the competition for university places is tougher this year than ever before and students have had to work incredibly hard to gain their required grades.”

Early indications suggested more than 42 per cent of students had achieved A or B grades in their exams.

Seven schools had three or more students scoring at least three grade As — Bartholomew, Burford, Chipping Norton, King Alfred’s in Wantage, Matthew Arnold at Cumnor Hill, Woodstock’s Marlborough School and Wood Green, in Witney.

King Alfred’s, Wantage, and Blessed George Napier, in Banbury, were the only state schools to record a 100 per cent pass rate at A* to E among their sixth-formers.

Mr Waine said: “We must also recognise in this the crucial role of all the teaching staff involved and those students’ parents who deserve credit for the support they have provided throughout the exam process.

“We thank them all and would like to congratulate everyone involved.

“Among the many celebrations there will be students who did not receive the results they hoped for.

“They too should take confidence in the support that is available, through their schools and colleges, to help them consider their next steps.”

Oxford & Cherwell Valley College, Banbury and Bartholomew schools all reported their best ever results, with 99 per cent, 99 per cent and 99.6 per cent overall pass rates respectively.

For the first time, the best-performing students could be awarded an A* grade.

Abigail Linton, from Bartholomew School, Natalie Fung, from Gosford Hill School in Kidlington, Briony Richards from the Marlborough School, Cailin Staunton from Fitzharrys School in Abingdon and Xinyi Hu from Blessed George Napier School all achieved four A* grades.

Mr Waine said the council would wait until all the results were in before education officers sat down to analyse the figures.

He said: “The council will now look carefully at the overall picture and identify more structured conclusions about these 2010 results, where relevant in comparison with the national picture.

“It would be wrong at this point to provide a more detailed analysis until the complete picture can be seen.”