Students in schools across Ashford and Shepway have been discovering their A-level results today.

There were plenty of smiles at the county’s largest high school sixth form as students picked up a stack of excellent results.

With a pass rate of 92 per cent it was the best set of results at Towers School, Kennington, for the past five years.

A number of subjects achieved 100 per cent success rate including History, English Literature and Sociology.

Nearly 50 students out of the 322 students are destined for university while many others with vocational qualifications have already lined up employment.

Headteacher Malcolm Ramsey was very proud of his pupils. He said: "This confirms OFSTED’s view that of the Ashford community our sixth form is ‘good’. These results will support a record number of students gaining university places for September."

Mr Ramsey attacked the idea that A-levels were getting easier. He said: "I certainly do not think they are getting easier - children are more intelligent than they used to be and the quality of teaching is much better."

A staggering 67 per cent of A-levels were an A or B grade at Ashford's Highworth School, pictured below. Seventeen students got three As and five got four or more As.

It was the first time boys as well as girls had opened A-level results at the expanding grammar school sixth-form. Just two boys compared with 144 girls took A-levels. A greater number of boys are about to go into year 11 so more will sit exams in 10 months time.

Results we slightly up on last year at Highworth. The rapidly growing sixth-form now offers over 40 A-level courses.

Delighted head teacher, Paul Danielsen, said: "Students worked incredibly hard and achieved fantastic results." He also thanks staff for their hard work.

Homewood School in Tenterden is celebrating another raft of successful A Level results.

Sixth form students waited patiently outside classroom doors ahead of the 10am announcement of results, with many celebrating the necessary passes they needed for university placements. An impressive 97 per cent scored grades A to E.

Among those pleased was 18-year-old Jess Cooper who is set to go Manchester university to study English.

She said: "I got an A and two Bs in media, English lit and geography.

"I'm very pleased; they were my predicated grades, though I didn't think I would get a B in English. I went on the UCAS website this morning and went, yes!"

Russell Langford-Smith scored two As, a B and C, meaning he is off to Leeds University to study English and philosophy. He said: "I did better than I hoped by quite a bit!"

For 19-year-olds Nathan Beck and Tristan Kavanagh this year's success was a mark of dogged determination after not quite getting the results they needed last year.

Nathan said: "I got an A for world development and Cs for chemistry and German. I'm very pleased. It was a bit of suprise; everybody was a bit nervous."

Tristan said: "I stuck with it. I got fantastic grades in AS and thought, I'm not leaving this, I'm going on. I got a C in film studies and C in history."

Principal William Cotterell said: "We are as always incredibly proud of the efforts and results of our students."

The best set of A-level results ever has been celebrated at Folkestone School for Girls.

A delighted head of sixth form Elizabeth Neads said there had been a 99.3 per cent pass rate with 67.8 per cent at A and B grades.

"These are excellent results, our best ever," she said.

Four A grades will see Aysha Francis off to Nottingham University to study for a four-year masters degree in maths.

At the Folkestone Academy the first ever A-level students were celebrating a 99 per cent pass rate with 53 per cent achieving A or B grades.

Head Sean Heslop said: "This represents a terrific achievement by the students. Nearly two thirds of our students took A-levels, where their performance has matched or exceeded the 2008 national average, and we are simply delighted for them.”

Seventeen of the students will be going on to university.

A delighted head of Pent Valley Technology College, Folkestone, praised his pupils for better passes than last year.

"These are pupils who were told they were not good enough for grammar school," said Mario Citro. "They achieved a 91 per cent pass rate which is brilliant."

Especially pleased with his BTech double distinction and B in ITT was Ben Wallis who is taking a gap year before studying sports sciences.

"I am looking for a career as a gym instructor so this is excellent," he said.

An 80 per cent A-C pass rate was clocked up at the Harvey Grammar School in Folkestone.

Former deputy head boy Will Dewey achived four As and is going to read law at Nottingham.

Hitting back at claims that a higher pass rate means the exams are getting easier, he said: "I do not agree with that. The exams are not easy."

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