2:48pm Thursday 20th August 2009
By Rebecca Lowe
STUDENTS at Henrietta Barnett School were literally jumping with joy today after nearly three quarters achieved top grades at A-level - the highest in the school's history.
Seventy-two per cent of the results were awarded an A grade and 92 per cent gained an A or B.
Out of the 119 students who sat the exams at the school, in Central Square, Hampstead Garden Suburb, 52 achieved three A grades and 15 gained four.
Swati Seshadri, 18, from Burnt Oak, gained four As in physics, maths, further maths and German, and will begin a course in engineering at Oxford University in September.
She said: "Opening my results felt really surreal. It didn't feel real, but it felt really good. I don't think it has sunk in yet.
"I was a little unsure about my German paper, but it turns out I did well.
"I'm really looking forward to starting my engineering course. I know it's an unusual choice for a girl, but I wanted to do something practical, not just theory, something I could go into industry with.
"It was a bit of a random choice. I don't know what I want to do yet."
Marina Olympia, 18, from Cheviot Gardens, Golders Green, achieved four A grades and a merit in her Latin Advanced Extension Award exam. She will read Classics at Cambridge University from September and hopes to be a barrister after doing a law conversion course.
She said: "I just feel elated. I'm very relieved because there is always a small doubt. I was definitely a bit worried about Latin.
"I am so excited about the next three years of my life. I want to do well in my degree and make lots of friends. It will form the basis for the rest of my life."
Headteacher Oliver Blond said: "Theses are a fantastic set of results for our students and they reflect a great deal of hard work and commitment.
"The competition for university places is stronger than ever and pupils must be praised for achieving their ambitions.
"Education, however, is about much more than getting good grades and in addition to their exam success, the pupils leave us bright, ambitious and thoughtful young people with so much to offer."
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