EMOTIONS ran high on Thursday as Stroud students proved themselves to be among the country's best and brightest with superb A Level results.

Screams of joy, excited chatter and a few inevitable tears marked the end of a nervous wait for hundreds of teenagers in the Five Valleys.

Stroud High School once again ranked among the nation's finest with a pass rate of 98.6 per cent and 67 per cent of students achieving an A or B grade.

One of the stars was Eastington student Emma Pinchbeck, 18, who was placed among the top five students in the country for politics and English.

Emma, who became a 1950s schoolgirl for Channel 4's That'll Teach' Em in 2003, got three As and a B - and even passed the super-tough AEA exam in English.

"I was just stunned when I saw it," said Emma. "I didn't expect this - it is ridiculously good."

Meanwhile, boys at the Downfield combined sixth form centre seemed to be closing the traditional gender gap, with Marling head Roger Lock reporting an improved pass rate of 98.3 per cent.

Happy Andy Panton, 18, achieved four As in English, French, geography and history, enabling him to go to Cambridge University's Downing College to study Law and French.

"It is a great relief," he said. "They are the results I needed and the ones I was hoping for but I wouldn't say I was expecting them."

Down the road at Archway School, pupils also had good reason to celebrate as the school achieved a 92 per cent pass rate. More importantly, said head Katie Harwood, the average point score per entry and per pupil was up on last year.

"We are really pleased with how our students have done this year," she said. "Point scores are what get people into universities.

"The students have worked very hard and we are very proud of them."

Among those celebrating was 18-year-old Will Hall, who won a place in the prestigious American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York and scooped two Bs and a C.

He said: "I was very pleased and I am also pleased with all my peers who have all worked tremendously hard.

"People in the media say A Levels are getting easier - I think that is rubbish."

Teacher and Stroud Football Poet Stuart Butler, 54, whose daughter Charlotte achieved two As and a B at Archway, also condemned the cynics.

"For today's cohorts of students it is relentless pressure," he said. "They show emotional and intellectual qualities far in advance of anyone in my generation.

"The intellectual context in which students work today is far more demanding than in my day."

Private schools did well, with Wycliffe School in Stonehouse enjoying a 100 per cent pass rate for the fourth year running. Westonbirt School near Tetbury had a pass rate of 95.5 per cent.

Pupils from Sir William Romney's School in Tetbury - which managed to defeat county council plans to axe the sixth form two years ago - had a pass rate of 95 per cent.

Head of sixth form Catherine Pullin said nearly all of her students had enough points to get into their first choice university.

She said: "It's a delight to see so many thrilled and excited youngsters looking forward to the next stage of their lives."

Information for students considering their options can be found on www.ucas.com, www.connexionsglos.org, www.ma4glos.org, www.bbc.co.uk/learning/

The Government will publish the Performance Tables in the Autumn on its website www.dfes.gov.uk/performancetables/