WHEN it comes to exam success, some Worcestershire students have proved they are among the best in the country.

Worcester pupil Hannah Sansome was one of the top 10 students in the country in science.

The 16-year-old Bishop Perowne CE College student sat an additional science exam along with 54,014 of students in the country.

Not only was she one of the top 10, but with eight A*s, one A and one B, she was top of the class at her school and awarded the Worcester Woman’s Graduate Prize for her results.

“I feel really shocked, it is more than I expected,” she said.

“It is surprising to be top but I am pleased.”

Elsewhere, Ben Brown, from Dyson Perrins High School in Malvern, was among the top 10 students in the country studying Design and Technology: Graphic Product.

Out of 5,236 candidates, Ben achieved one of the highest overall marks.

At Malvern St James school, Lucy Darling and Alexandra Miller were in the top 10 in the country after getting high marks in Business and Economics.

And Blessed Edward Oldcorne Catholic College’s year eight student, Mari Snookes, achieved one of the highest overall marks in the country in her Japanese GCSE.

The were also many teenagers who got a string of A*s and As.

At Evesham High School Alice Barnett, Cara Booth, Sarah Cresswell, Chloe Bryan and Clare Chambers all got 11 or 12 A* and A grades.

At King’s School, Worcester, James Elderfield and Duncan Leeson, gained A*s in all 10 of their subjects.

Two girls at The Chase, Rosemary Smith and Jennifer White, gained 10 A*s among their 12 GCSE passes.

Success was also celebrated by Eleanor Percival from Pershore High School who got nine A*s and half an A.

According to provisional figures 64 per cent of students in the county achieved five or more A* to C grades, compared with 61 per cent last year.

Councillor Liz Eyre, Worcestershire County Council’s cabinet member for children and young people, said: “An amazing 6,308 young people sat their GCSE exams this year and you could almost feel the buzz around the county today when they received their results.”

MP for Worcester, Mike Foster, urged students to stay on in education now they have left school.

“Staying on in education after the age of 16 changes your life, for the better and for ever it is as simple as that,” he said.

Education Minister Andrew Adonis echoed Mr Foster’s plea and said there were many options for people who wanted to stay in education.

“The message is clear: keep learning,” Mr Adonis said.