SCHOOLS across the county are celebrating after their students received offers from the country’s top two universities.

At Hove Park in Nevill Road, Hove, four top performing students gained offers from Oxford or Cambridge.

James Holmes will study Oriental studies at Oxford, India Grant is set to study human, social and political sciences at Cambridge, Joseph Fairbrother has a place to study maths and computer science at Oxford and Gareth Bourne will study English literature at Cambridge.

With five teenagers on average chasing one place the competition is notoriously stiff and standards exceptionally high.

Last year, there were 34,000 students applying for around 6,400 places.

Head of sixth form James Miles said: “We are incredibly proud. This is a record-breaking number of Oxbridge offers for us and it just goes to show that we aim incredibly high here at HP6 – Hove Park’s sixth form.”

Across the city, ten Varndean College students are celebrating Oxbridge places and as in previous years, nearly half the college candidates were successful in the 2016 round of applications.

Maddie Farrell will study modern languages at Oxford, Robin Ferguson physics at Oxford, Dominic Judd-Page history in Cambridge, Odhran O’Donoghue medicine at Oxford, Freya Way natural sciences at Cambridge and Annika Schlemm biology at Oxford.

Also successful were Jake Kroeger, Sam Rimmer, Sophie Scott, Murray Edwards and Nesta Smith who will all go to Cambridge to study humanities, history, English and philosophy respectively.

At Shoreham Academy, two students are off to Oxbridge.

Zandile Powell has been offered a place to study international relations and political science at Cambridge whilst Matthew Randall has been offered a place to study earth sciences at Oxford.

This is the first occasion that two students in the same year have been offered places at Oxbridge reflecting the rising standards and aspirations of the academy.

Kieran Felton, head of sixth form said: "At Shoreham Academy, we aim to establish a culture of high expectations, ambition and aspiration and we are delighted to see our students reaching their full potential.

“The Oxbridge application process is no easy task but, with the support of their teachers, both Zandile and Matthew ensured they were fully prepared for their interviews and I am thrilled that all their hard work has paid off.

“We look forward to continuing to support them as they prepare for their A Level exams and achieve the grades they need to secure their offers.

“Zandile, Matthew and Joshua’s achievements will spur on our younger students and show them that through hard work, determination and commitment, it is possible to achieve any goals they set for themselves – however ambitious.”