TEENAGERS across the South are today celebrating A-level success.

Weeks of suspense came to end as thousands of students from all over the region finally received their results.

As students queued to pick up their results today, four out of five schools and colleges in Hampshire contacted by the Daily Echo reported pass rates well above the national average of 89.1 per cent.

Competition for university places is set to be fierce this year, with the national pass rate also up - for the 18th year in succession - by 0.6 per cent and 7,000 more exams taken across the country.

Students in Southampton and surrounding areas look set to hold their own as they also scoop a bumper crop of top grades.

Three of the five sixth forms made big gains in A and A-C grades, while national increases were less than one per cent.

At Brockenhurst College, where the pass rate was 91.1per cent, 24 outstanding students achieved three or more grade As.

Among them were eight students with four As each and two students who each scooped a staggering five A-levels at grade A plus a distinction at S level.

Students at Bay House School in Gosport, gained A grades in 31 per cent of the exams they took - nearly doubling performance levels of two years ago.

Pass rate at Peter Symonds' College, Winchester, was 92 per cent and Barton Peveril College, Eastleigh, was 93 per cent.

Steady improvement continued at Taunton's College, Southampton, where the pass rate came within a whisker of the national average - up by 2.4 percentage points to 88.4, with A grades also up two percentage points.

Peter Symonds' principal Neil Hopkins said: "Hampshire sixth form colleges have maintained their lead over the national average as A-level performance goes up and we are now reaching a level where we wouldn't want to go much higher.

"It would be wrong to try and get a pass rate much above 95 per cent because it would suggest we are not giving a chance to some borderline candidates."

Nationally, girls did better than boys - with the lion's share of top grades for the first time and a higher pass rate. Boys, however, showed no improvement.

Education minister Baroness Blackstone said: "The government is taking a number of steps to address boys' under-performance across the system from primary school onwards.'

Paul Sokoloff, convenor of the Joint Council for General Qualifications, said: "The standards of these A-level qualifications are maintained year after year, while the teaching and learning continue to improve."

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