Our reporters and photographers are at schools across the county as thousands of teenagers peer inside envelopes containing the grades they have (hopefully) been waiting for.

See how students at schools in Deal, Dover and Sandwich have done here:

Sandwich Technology School

The excitement far outweighed the tears at Sandwich Technology School today as students collected their GCSE results.

After weeks of waiting, teenagers stood with their friends or parents to open their envelopes and read their fate.

Nearly all of them gained what they needed to move on to their preferred schools or colleges for further education.

Lara Langston gained Cs in Hairdressing and English which enables her to move onto Canterbury College to study Hair and Beauty.

Joshua Sawyer and Ross Nanjiani were among those who gained five Bs and higher to take up their place at Chatham & Clarendon Grammar School in Ramsgate.

Toby Rayleigh-Strutt received As in English Literature and ICT securing his place at the Rugby Academy at Canterbury High.

An ecstatic Molly James was over the moon with her B in English. She is going to Canterbury College to study Musical Theatre.

Friends Ebony Gibbs who gained Bs in English, Maths and Science, Lily Allen who got an A* in English and an A in English Litertaure and Hannah Cory who gained a B in PE are all staying at the Sandwich school to do their A-Levels.

Deputy Head John Boyes said: “We’ve had some students with some outstanding results. Many As and A*s which is really pleasing.

“It’s really good just to see so many students excited with their results and looking forward to what comes next.”

Both Mr Boyes and Head of the English department Lucy Curling were especially pleased with the school’s English results.

Mrs Curling, who has been at the school for nine years, said: “These are our best results by far. The staff have been really hard working and the students have been outstanding.”

Castle Community College

The school celebrates another rise in GCSE results for the second year running.

Pupils crammed into the hall at the Salisbury Road site to hear whether their hard work had paid off before going off to consider which career route they will take.

John Rowarth was delighted to achieve 5 A* in PE, double science, catering and European Computer Driving License; A in geography, and Bs in Maths and English.

Although the 16 year-old is not sure what he wants to go on and do for work, he will join the school’s sixth form to study geography, double sport and biology at A-Level.

Max Dawkins hopes his 8 GCSE passes including an A in maths will get him a job as a combat engineer in the armed forces. He will study maths, physics, economics and engineering A-Levels at Dover Grammar School for Girls and hopes to join up as an officer after gaining a degree.

Jeff Thompson, acting progress leader, (head of year 11) said a whole year of intervention after school, holidays and weekends has helped boost results.
“We had an unusual combination with these pupils. They started GCSEs in year 10 when the school merged so for results to go up, I’m really proud.

GCSE results day equals a busy period for the school's award winning careers advisor Kay Keyte.

No sooner had the pupils torn open their results envelope, read them and called home to eager parents, she was checking up on what courses or vocations they will pursue.

She said: “The next few days is about making sure everyone of my students has a destination.

They’re doing traineeships, apprenticeships, college courses or sixth form courses. For any who haven’t come in today, we will be phoning them making sure we get everybody into the right place for them

“Generally most people got what they expected.”

Sir Roger Manwood's

Another set of pleasing results has been achieved at Sir Roger Manwood’s School in Sandwich.

Head teacher Lee Hunter said it is gratifying to see the hard work of the students, their parents and teachers rewarded.

Thursday’s results saw that 76.3% of all the examinations taken were passed at the top grades of A*, A or B. And 93.7% were at grade C or above.

He said: “We were delighted to see so many of the students achieve the grades they were capable of, whether that be those who were aiming for grade Bs and Cs, or those aiming for A*s and As.

“Special mention should be made of the 23 students who achieved a total of 10 or more A* or A grades.

"Fifteen students achieved at least 6 A* grades and two gained A* passes in all of the 11 examinations they sat, a fantastic achievement".

Dover Grammar School for Girls

Dover Grammar School for Girls is celebrating 96% of their pupils achieving A*-C grades in their GCSE results.

There were tears of uncertainty but mostly tears of joy as hundreds of 16-year-olds flocked to the school to collect their results.

Head teacher Matthew Bartlett said: “Students and staff have worked exceptionally hard and can be very proud of their achievements."

Hannah Spurgeon, 16, gained nine A*s one A and one B grade. She said: “I’m really pleased. I’m going to go on and study subjects that I got my best results in.”

She will study A-levels in maths, further maths, physics, and geography at Simon Langton Grammar School in Canterbury.

Katie Hutchinson, 16, received one A* in statistics, nine As and two B grades. She will also go to Simon Langton to study maths and biology.

Others have chosen to take their success on to sixth form at the school including Zara Groves, 16, who received nine A-C grades including an A in art, a B in history and C in maths and English.

She will now study art, media, history and design and technology at A-level.

St Edmund's Catholic School

From becoming the barristers of the future to studying in Paris, St Edmund’s Catholic School in Dover was full of celebrations on GCSE results day.

Evan Little, 16, received three Bs and six Cs and will study art and design at Astor College for the Arts.

Connan Miles, 16, gained one B, five Cs and three Ds. He said he was most pleased with his C in English and B in P.E. He will study sports at Sandwich Technology School.

He said: "It's been my plan to do that from the early days."

Alisha Smith, 16, was pleased with her results and already has her sights set on becoming a top barrister.

She received one A*, four As and three Cs.

She said: “I’m really relieved. I got an A* in history and that’s my favourite subject so I was really pleased. I’ve always wanted to be a barrister, I think ever since I was in Year 9. I love the idea of being a lawyer.”

She will be studying chemistry, governmental politics, philosophy and ethics, and history at A-level at Sir Roger Manwood’s School in Sandwich.

Freya Crick, 16, was happy to get her grades before she jets off to Paris next week.

She received one A in English literature, four Bs, four Cs and one D.

She said: “I was not expecting that at all. I was panicking that I would open them and they would be all Cs or below.

“I’m going to the International School of Paris to study maths, biology, environmental sciences, English literature, French and history. Some of them are A-levels and some lower levels.”