CELEBRATIONS were in order at Peter Symonds College in Winchester as students achieved excellent A-level results yet again.

The Winchester sixth form college smashed last year's record, with 99.5 per cent passing their exams.

Among the high-achievers were Sophie Bellows, who was awarded a silver medal by the AQA exam board as the top science student in the country, out of more than 51,000 candidates.

The 18-year-old, who is currently on holiday in France with her parents, will attend to a glittering awards ceremony later in the year, when she will officially receive her accolade.

Principal Neil Hopkins said it was an "amazing achievement" and added that the college was proud of the students' overall results.

He said: "I don't think we can get much better than that. It's such an amazing day, the emotion is unbelievable. It's just lovely seeing their faces."

Among the smiling faces at Peter Symonds, thought to be the biggest A-level exam centre in Britain, was 18-year-old Francesca Davidson from Romsey, who was one of the top five students in the country in two subjects.

Francesca, of The Harrage in Romsey, got As in History and Geography, as well as in English language and English literature, where she was one of the country's top five students. She said: "I'm really pleased, I was hoping for the best with my results and I've got more than I hoped for.

The former King Edward VI pupil had glandular fever just before her exams, which meant she could not do as much revision as she'd hoped but added that she was even happier to get the grades despite her illness.

She will go on to study English literature at UCL in September.

Joining her will be one of the college's most active students and well-known faces, Harmesh Bhambra, who scooped straight As in economics, politics, maths and general studies. During his time at Peter Symonds he was secretary of the student union, vice captain of the badminton team and had been involved in organising events and student radio. In July, he attended the Global Young Leaders Conference in America, after being nominated by the college. The 18-year-old, from Shanklin Road in Shirley, said: "I always put my subjects first but I loved getting involved in everything at college."

A total of 330 Peter Symonds students got the equivalent of four A grades or better and six were among the top five marks in the country for various subjects.