Elaine Johnson was nervous when she opened her results - but now she's more worried about her parents' hair-raising surprise reward.

Today the teenager is jumping out of an aeroplane in her first parachute jump.

Elaine, a pupil at Oakmeeds Community College, in Burgess Hill, wept with joy yesterday when she discovered she had got an A, Bs and Cs in her GCSEs.

She said: "I can't believe it. I thought I would do far worse than this. I am so happy with my results.

"My parents told me this morning they have booked a parachute jump for me as a surprise. My sister got a flying lesson so I suppose I should have expected it. It will be even more scary than getting my results, though I am excited about it as well."

Fellow student Joe Johnson, 15, took his Maths GCSE a year early and got an A*.

He said: "I was hoping to get an A, but I was just so relieved when I got the result. It means I can forget about it now and concentrate on the other eight."

A number of pupils at the college were celebrating outstanding sets of results.

Charlotte Davey, 16, got eight A grades and one A*. She will be joining Burgess Hill High School for Girls Sixth Form to take her A-levels.

She said: "I did put a lot of hard work in but though I expected to get some A grades I didn't expect them all to be. I was particularly pleased to get an A for music because we had to compose our own piece as part of the coursework."

Mark Tully, 16, got 3 A*s, five As and one B, and said he would be partying with his friends last night to celebrate. He will study for four AS-Level subjects next year. He said: "I am very pleased. It is better than I expected."

Colin Taylor, head teacher of Oakmeeds Community College, said: "The results for this year group are better than predicted."

Fifty six per cent of pupils at the college gained A*-C passes in five or more subjects. Twelve pupils gained A or A* in five or more subjects and six passed seven subjects with grades A* or A.

Mr Taylor said: "These are impressive results and are a strong indication of the hard work that pupils and staff have devoted to the GCSE courses.

At Oathall Community College in Haywards Heath, teenagers filled the playground hugging each other and ringing parents and friends.

Nobody was more pleased with his results than Martin Talent, 16, when he discovered he had passed all his GCSEs with B, C and D grades.

Last year Martin was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis which has forced him to spend four months in hospital during the past 18 months.

He said: "It is unusual for somebody to be as old as I am when they are diagnosed and I have missed a lot of school. I really didn't think I would pass any of my exams so to pass all of them is unbelievable."

Jackie Whiteside, 16, was straight on the phone to her family after opening her results.

Jackie, who is originally from South Africa, only joined the college two years ago to study for her GCSEs and was delighted with her As, Bs and Cs. She said: "I am really happy. I thought I'd done a lot worse."

Rachel Kenneway, 16, hugged her friend Luke Peeling when she discovered she had got As and A*s.

She said: "I was hoping this is what I would get. I have put in a lot of work. I am going to Haywards Heath College to do A-levels and then I want to go to university."

Martin Ashman, who has been the students' head of year since they were in Year 8, jokingly had to order Hayley Costello, 16, to open her exam results as she was so nervous.

She looked stunned when she discovered she had achieved all A*s and a couple of A grades. Her friend and study partner, Sarah Holmes, also got As and A*s and they will both go to Lewes Tertiary College to study for their A-Levels.

Mr Ashman said: "The results have been excellent. The majority of the students have done extremely well and it is really nice to see all the hard work paying off.

I have built up a good relationship with the students over the years and have felt quite lost without them since they left in May."

At Warden Park School in Cuckfield, Haywards Heath, 74 per cent of students gained a pass rate of A*-C and 25 per cent of all grades were A* or A.

Student Kevin Chung achieved one of the top five marks in the country in science and English literature.

Fellow student Emily Clarke also secured one of the top five marks in the country in science.

This is the seventh year in a row students at the school have achieved an average of 71 per cent or more A*-C passes.

Headmaster Brian Webb, said: "Parents, staff and students have worked so hard to gain these excellent results. I am so pleased that they have achieved everything they deserved.

"With careful monitoring and support, I believe that we have achieved the best from all, and have provided these youngsters with a solid foundation for the continuation of their education and progression into adult life."

At The Holy Trinity School in Gossops Green, Crawley, 64 per cent of Year 11 pupils gained five GCSEs at A*-C, an increase of six per cent on last year. A total of 127 of the 198 pupils were awarded five or more A*-C passes and 55 gained ten or more grades at C or above.

Local results reflected a national trend which saw boys begin to close the gap on girls.

While girls still gain 5.3 per cent more A* and A passes, their lead at the crucial A to C grade level was cut by 0.3 per cent to 8.9 per cent.