YEARS of hard work came to fruition when students across Dorset and Hampshire received their GCSE results.

Thousands of students are now planning their next move after picking up their grades from schools and colleges across the two counties.

View and buy pictures of GCSE results day across Dorset in our gallery here

Amid fears that results could be adversely affected by changes to courses, many were delighted to discover they had achieved better than expectations.

The national benchmark standard referred to is at least five GCSEs at grades A*-C, including English and maths.

Bournemouth

Bournemouth School: 95 per cent achieved the benchmark standard but headteacher Dr Dorian Lewis said he was disappointed with some English results and will be querying grades. However, 45 students attained 10 or more A* and A grades with two students achieving 13 A* grades at GCSE and an A* in the ICT short course. Headmaster Dr Dorian Lewis said: “I am delighted by the outstanding results achieved by so many of our students. Whilst I applaud the Department for Education’s desire to address the issue of grade inflation it does seem a little unfair to some of this year’s students that their efforts may notbe as well rewarded as they may have been in the past.”

Bournemouth School for Girls: 100 per cent of pupils gained the benchmark standard with 65 per cent of all grades at A* or A. Almost three quarters of pupils gained at least five A* or A grades and 36 pupils got 10 or more A* and A grades. Head Alistair Brien said: “I am absolutely delighted with these results which are testament to the girls’ hard work.”

Glenmoor School: 69 per cent of students achieved the national benchmark and Ben Antell, Head of Schools at Glenmoor and Winton said: “Congratulations to our students and staff on exceeding GCSE expectations for a third consecutive year.”

Winton Arts and Media College: 55 per cent achieved the national benchmark standard with 70 per cent achieving at least five grads above C. Executive principal Ben Parnell said: “As we celebrate our GCSE results today, we would like to thank students, families and teachers for all their hard work, commitment and dedication over the past year.”

Avonbourne College/Harewood College: Avonbourne Trust is celebrating a good range of GCSE results across both its schools in Bournemouth.

Provisional results show that 60% of Avonbourne College students have achieved at least five A* to C grades, including English and Maths; with an overall 73% achieving A* to Cs.

Harewood College has seen the number of boys gaining at least five A* to C, including English and Maths rise by 3% on last year.

Among the individual success stories were Harewood’s Bertie Deakin who scored two A*s and four As.

Executive headteacher of Avonbourne Trust, Debbie Godfrey-Phaure, said: “I am delighted at all the hard work and dedication of all our students and I’d like to congratulate them all.

St Peter’s: The school’s benchmark grade improved by six per cent and was the best for four years. 16 per cent gained five or more A* or A grades. Headteacher David Todd said: “Politicians seem to want to outwit schools when it comes to examination results as if the process is some sort of card game. St peter’s provides good outcomes for students.”

Talbot Heath: All girls got five A* to C grades, including English and Maths and across all subjects the pass rate was 99.6 per cent.

The school also celebrated many individual success stories, with 17 girls achieving full marks in papers across their subjects.

Head Angharad Holloway said: “It is remarkable to see how the girls are managing to combine their studies with impressive achievements in sports and music. They have done really well, we are so proud.”

Bournemouth Collegiate: 79 per cent of pupils gained five A*-C grades with record results in Art and Design, Design Technology and Modern Languages. Principal Stephen Duckitt congratulated staff and pupils.

Bourne Academy: 57 per cent of students achieved five or more grades at A*-C including English and Maths, with 65 per cent of students achieving at least five grades at A*-C. This puts The Bourne Academy in the top 25 per cent of all schools in the country for the progress students have made.

Jackie Steel, Principal, said ‘I'm absolutely delighted with these fantastic results. They are down to the sheer dedication of the staff, and to the brilliant students who have strived for excellence. These results are proof of what can be achieved with the combination of students, teachers and parents and carers all working together.’

Poole

Magna Academy: 57 per cent achieved the national benchmark standard with 66 per cetn gaining grades above C in both English and maths. The results are likely to put the Academy in the top two per cent nationally for progress made by pupils.

Principal Richard Tutt said: “I’m very proud of our students and how hard they have worked to achieve these fantastic results. The Academy has a very exciting future.”

Carter Community: Robert Davies, Head teacher, said: "There have been some brilliant, brilliant results this year. Our high achievers have really stood out with some fantastic results, with a particular focus on Science, including the BTEC, GCSE double and GCSE triple courses, which have all had outstanding results.

"It's just a shame that the English papers seemed to have been a bit tougher this year, with volatile grade boundaries, meaning that some students did not get the grades that they would have liked."

Parkstone Grammar: Headteacher Tracy Harris said six students achieved A* grades in all of their subjects and 65 per cent of all grades were A* or A. “In a year when GCSE results nationally are predicted to fall, I am delighted that Parkstone has maintained its excellent GCSE performance and continues to provide outstanding education” she said.

Poole Grammar: The benchmark figure was 94.2 per cent with 47 per cent of grades A* or A. Almost three quarters of maths grades were A* or A. Headteacher Andy Baker said: “I’m really proud of the students for their hard work and I’m proud of my colleagues for the painstaking work they’ve done.”

Poole High: Head teacher Fran Heafield said: “We are very pleased for our students who worked exceptionally hard and have been successful. We are particularly delighted with our maths results and with the increase of five per cent of students getting the EBacc qualification.”

St Aldhelm’s Academy: Students failed to reach the government floor standard of 40 per cent but a spokesman said some students did well and 98 per cent achieved at least one pass between A* and G. Chair of Governors Tony Moore said: “It has been a challenging year for all students and staff at the Academy.”

St Edward's School: Students achieved a 57% pass rate of five or more GCSE’s including English and maths, with 66% of students gaining 5 plus A* – C GCSE grades. In maths, 76% of students gained A* - C grades.

Lytchett Minster School: Lytchett Minster School are celebrating the fact that 76% of their Year 11 students have achieved 5 A*-C in their GCSE exams. We have achieved excellent results, including a very pleasing number of A and A* grades. Headmaster Stuart Clark commented “Congratulations to all our students and staff who have worked incredibly hard to achieve to achieve these very pleasing results.”

Christchurch and the New Forest

Twynham School: 29 students gained at least eight A* and A grades with 69 per cent gaining the national benchmark standard. Headteacher Dr Terry Fish said: “In a truly comprehensive school these are impressive achievements and I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the students and to thank their teachers, support staff and parents.”

The Grange: Headteacher Steve Dossett said maths, English and science grades all improved and one student, Jack Axford, got 11 A* and A grades. He said Btec courses were strong and students make good progress. Students at the school achieved a 43 per cent figure for the national benchmark.

Highcliffe School: 68 per cent of students met the national benchmark standard and 73 per cent got five or more A*-C grades. More than 30 students got eight or more grades above C. Headteacher Judith Potts said: “Congratulations to our students. I am delighted with these results which maintain our position as a high achieving school.”

Arnewood: 65 per cent gained the national benchmark figure. Headteacher Chris Hummerstone said: “We are determined to celebrate every student’s success. They, and all those who have supported them, deserve our congratulation.”

Ringwood School: 70 per cent achieved the national benchmark and the school achieved its best ever results. The top 11 students gained 10 or more A* and A grades. Headteacher Christina Edwards said: “My congratulations go to all the students and my thanks also go to the staff.”

Priestlands: 65 per cent got five or more A*-C grades including English and maths. Headteacher Chris Willsher said: “We know that their success today means our students have been given greater choice about what to do next. I congratulate them and wish them will in the future.”

East Dorset

Canford School: 99% of students were awarded A*-C grades, 35.2% of all grades were A* and 73.5% of entries were A*/A.  Six pupils achieved 10A*s and 10% of the year group were awarded 9A*s or better.  One in five pupils were awarded 7A*s or more with seventeen pupils achieving 8A*s or better.  Headmaster Ben Vessey said: "Excellence and breadth characterise these inspiring results.  I am obviously delighted with the collections of A*s and As gained by both boys and girls, and am pleased that there has been such achievement across a broad range of Arts and Sciences.”

• We have been unable to get information from Corfe Hills for you at this stage but a spokesman for St Aldhelm’s Academy refused to give the figure for the percentage of pupils to gain at least five A*-C grades, including English and maths.