Thousands of East Sussex GCSE students today received their results - and proved they are a cut above the rest.

While standards nationally suffered a slight dip, youngsters across East Sussex fared better than ever.

At fee-paying Eastbourne College in Old Wish Road, Eastbourne, every candidate achieved five or more A* to C grades while 49 per cent of grades were A* or A.

Headmaster Charles Bush said: "This was a strong year that has broken almost all the records.

"It just goes to show what hard work, purposeful endeavour, good teaching and a wholly supportive school environment can achieve for all pupils."

Successes included Krishna Motha, who gained 12 A* grades, a school record.

Other top performers included Scott Mattingly with ten A* and one A; Bella Stewart with eight A* and two As and Miriam Malak with six A* and four As.

Miriam follows the success of her brother Tom, 18, who last week gained four A-grade A-levels to win a place reading medicine at Southampton University.

The 16-year-old, of Willingdon Road, Eastbourne, said: "I am so pleased with my results. It was hectic work and there was a lot of last-minute cramming but I'm glad it's all over."

Bella Stewart, 16, an aspiring doctor of Grassington Road, Eastbourne, now plans to sit A-levels in chemistry, biology and art.

She said: "There's going to be a big party tonight. It has been a lot of hard work over the past year but I'm really excited about my results. They're great."

At Moira House Girls School in Upper Carlisle Road, Eastbourne, the number of pupils gaining five or more A* to C grades rose from 91 per cent last year to more than 95 per cent.

A total of 61.4 per cent gained passes at A* and A - following on from last week's A-levels, when 99 per cent of girls gained passes, 33 per cent with A grades.

Alicia Mann gained one of the country's top five marks in GCSE English literature out of more than 50,600 candidates.

Other successes included Victoria Castro with 11 A* and A passes and Heidi Bunn and Caroline Culver with nine A* and A passes.

In addition, Alicia Mann, Camilla Watson, Natalie Cook and Laura Cordell gained eight A* and A passes, to the joy of principal Ann Harris.

She said: "For the third year, girls at Moira House have been amongst the highest achievers in the country in at least one subject."

At Tideway Community School in Newhaven, 96 per cent of pupils gained at least one pass grade, with 32 per cent gaining five or more A* to C grades.

Headteacher Adrian Money said: "It was wonderful seeing the students this morning opening their envelopes and, in most cases, showing excitement, relief and gratitude to their teachers."

Nationally boys are still trailing behind girls but the gap between them narrowed slightly from 53.4 per cent performing at grade C and above to 53.6 per cent, while girls' performance stayed the same at 62.4 per cent.

John Milner, of the Joint Council for General Qualifications, today defended the GCSE amid the annual criticism that the qualification is flawed.

He said: "Students and their teachers have demonstrated how hard they have worked in achieving these excellent results.

"GCSEs are firmly established and greatly valued by students and teachers."

Nationally, students gaining one GCSE pass or more at grade G and above dropped from 97.9 per cent to 97.6 per cent but the number gaining A* or A grades rose 0.3 per cent to 16.7 per cent.