Weeks of anxious waiting came to an end for Waveney Valley students yesterday as their GCSE results were revealed.

Youngsters picked up their brown envelopes to discover their grades and, for the vast majority, it was good news as they received the grades needed to continue their higher education.

For those that were left disappointed plenty of help was on hand to discuss a range of alternatives.

At the Sir John Leman High School in Beccles, there were plenty of reasons to celebrate as, for the second year running, the school set a new record for pass rates. This year saw 63pc of students achieve five or more A* to C passes including English and maths – up from 57pc in 2013.

Headmaster Jeremy Rowe was delighted with the results.

“To set a new record for the second year running is a great achievement.

“It is good news not only for the school but for the town and surrounding area. These results are a testament to the skill and hard work of the staff and students at the school,” he said.

Some students at the school took exams when only 13 years old and a number had achieved excellent pass rates.

“We have the philosophy that if the students are good enough they should take the exam and some of our 13-year-olds have every right to be proud of their achievements,” said Mr Rowe.

At Bungay High School 46pc of students achieved five or more A* to C passes.

Acting headteacher Catherine Wiltshire said: “The governors and I would like to congratulate the students, staff and parents on the GCSE results. We are proud of the fact that all of our students follow a broad and balanced curriculum which provides each of them with a rich array of opportunities through which they can experience success.”

There have been a number of excellent individual performances at the school.

Students who achieved at least nine grades at A/A* include: Evvia Gonzales, Tom Pointon, Bea Prutton, Felix Prutton, Adam Roberts and Eleanor Watkinson.

Mrs Wiltshire added: “Our ‘headline’ figures have been negatively affected by the changes in the way in which we are permitted to report results and the increased emphasis on terminal examinations. We offer our students a wide range of courses and some of these don’t ‘count’ in the statistics. Thus we have many students who are individually very happy with their results but whose results are not included in our totals.”

At Langley School 72pc of students achieved five or more A* to C passes including maths and English.

Headmaster Dominic Findlay said: “We are so pleased for all our students and staff on achieving these fantastic results which are our best ever in terms of five A* to C percentage.

“Gaining five A* to C is a wonderful achievement and our students can now progress with confidence on to their next stages of education.”

Among the individual successes at the school was Year 9 pupil Ryan Evans, of Fleggburgh, who achieved an A* in mathematics at the age of 14.At Hobart High School in Loddon headteacher Sam Griffin hailed what he described as “an excellent set of results.”

The percentage of students gaining five A8-C grades including English and maths was 58pc and the percentage of students with A*-C grades was 74pc.

Mr Griffin added: These reflect the hard work of all our students and they are to be congratulated on their successes. I would also like to thank all staff, parents and governors for their tireless work.”