Students across Sussex proved they were top of the class by scoring record results in this year's GCSE exams.

Teenagers from Brighton and Hove woke this morning to discover A* to C pass rates had risen to a new high of 57.9 per cent - up 0.8 per cent on last year.

The impressive performances came just a week after the A-level pass rate leapt from 89.8 per cent to 94.3 per cent.

Staff at Brighton College were celebrating their best year for GCSEs, with 60 per cent of results being A and A* grades.

Anthony Seldon, headmaster at the college in Eastern Road, Brighton, said: "Successful GCSEs are vital to every pupil, whatever the detractors say.

"Congratulations to all our pupils, not only to our super A* fliers but to every pupil who has worked hard to get the best grades they can."

East Brighton College of Media Arts had 17 per cent of pupils gaining at least five GCSEs at C or above.

That was an increase on last year's 14 per cent, when the college in Wilson Avenue, Brighton, was among the 200 worst-performing schools in England.

Headteacher Dr Jill Clough said: "A lot of our students come from very difficult backgrounds. I'm thrilled for those who have done so well, given what they've contended with."

Students who took French GCSEs two years early proved major success stories at Dorothy Stringer School in Loder Road, Brighton.

Of the 55 pupils, 13 got A* grades, 25 got As, 15 got Bs and two got Cs. Some 35 of them have decided to take an AS-level in French alongside their other GCSE studies next year.

Assistant headmaster Simon Sharron said: "Our decision to fast-track these pupils was in keeping with the idea of stretching students who need to be stretched."

Their success bucked the national trend, which saw the number of candidates taking GCSEs in French fall by 8,539 to 338,468.

All 73 pupils at Roedean School, in Roedean Way, Brighton, achieved at least five passes at grade C or above. Some 68.1 per cent of passes were grade A* or A.

Across the UK, pupils gaining grade C and above in English rose by one per cent to 59.5 per cent and in maths the figure increased by 1.2 per cent to 51.3 per cent.

Margaret Hodge, minister for lifelong learning, congratulated pupils on their results. But she said a widening gap between girls' and boys' performances in most subjects was "unacceptable".