West Sussex students collecting their GCSE results today proved they were top of the class by scoring record results.

Colleges and schools reported excellent grades, spelling good news for thousands of youngsters who sat their exams in June.

Today, some county headteachers were reporting their best ever pass rates, bucking a national grade slip.

Among them was Lancing College, where 100 per cent of students gained five or more A* to C grades and 17 entrants achieved all As and A*s.

The overall pass rate for Year 11 at grades A to G was 98.1 per cent.

Samira Tritton, 16, from Shoreham, got five As, one A*, two Bs and a C. She said: "I was really nervous coming up to school to receive my results today.

"I've got the grades I need to do A Levels so I'm really pleased. I'm not sure how I'm going to be celebrating but my mum has got a surprise for me at home."

Andrew Jelski, 16, from Small Dole, got nine A*s and one A. He also got two AS level certificates last week.

He said: "I was really nervous about getting my maths results and have been going over the questions in my mind all summer. Now I've got my results I'm absolutely delighted and plan to stay on and do four ASs next year."

Andrew's mother, Jacqui, was at the school, and hugged him as he received his results.

She said: "All the students worked so hard. I can't believe there's any talk about dumbing down. All the students have been very dedicated to their studies.

"I'm really proud of my son. He deserves his excellent results."

Headteacher Peter Tinniswood said: "Students of all ability levels have done well this year. It is our highest overall pass rate on record."

Staff collating results at Chatsmore Catholic High School in Worthing said they were pleased with the pass rates.

Headteacher Liz York said: "The results are looking very good."

Nationally, the proportion of students gaining one pass or more dropped from 97.9 per cent to 97.6 per cent.

But the number of students gaining A* or A grades was up 0.3 per cent, with one in six pupils scoring the top grades.

Results show that girls have outstripped boys again in the exams.

The gap narrowed slightly with the number of boys hitting C and above rising to 53.6 per from 53.4 per cent. The girls' performance remained unchanged with 62.4 per cent scooping the top three grades.

Maths was the most popular GCSE subject followed by English and science.

There was also a big rise in the number taking business studies, while the decline in modern languages continued and more pupils sat biology, chemistry and physics. The biggest increase was in religious studies, with an extra 7.9 per cent sitting the exam.

Standards in English and maths have shot up in Sussex despite failure to improve them nationally.

Education Secretary Charles Clarke is facing calls to scrap GCSEs and replace them with a more flexible system.