Despite it being a very different A-level results day, pupils at Wells Cathedral School had much to celebrate today (August 13).

The overall pass rate was 99.6 per cent, the highest pass rate at the school in 15 years. Almost two-thirds achieved grades A* to B, 40 per cent achieved grades A* to A (compared to a national average figure of 27.9 per cent) and 16 per cent gained the top A* grade.

Over one fifth of pupils achieved all A* and A grades, and nearly one third of the entrants achieved AAB grades or better.

Nine pupils achieved two or more A* grades, including Rosa Bonnin from Wookey, Mireille Farthing from Wells, James Manning from Croscombe, Alys Skinner from Wells, Joseph Slattery from Wells and Megan Taylor from Wookey Hole.

Alfie Creber from Clutton and Matthew Howard from East Harptree both achieved three A* grades, while William Haskins from Kingsbridge achieved an impressive four A* grades.

Five pupils will go on to study at Oxbridge, where they will read a diverse variety of subjects. Four have places at the University of Oxford: Rosa Bonnin to read Music at Trinity College, Jane Lee from the 2019 cohort to read Music at Jesus College, Hugo Spindler to read French at Oriel College and Megan Taylor to read Earth Sciences at St Anne's College. Gabrielle Desalbres from the 2019 cohort will read History at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Emma Greenshields from Wells will proceed with her studies of Veterinary Science at the University of Edinburgh, while Alys Skinner will read Medicine at the University of Liverpool.

With more than 150 offers from Russell Group and other top universities to study a wide range of subjects, from Anthropology to Engineering, History of Art to Astrophysics, this cohort will follow fascinating and varied academic paths.

Many Wells pupils will continue with their musical studies at the country's internationally famous music colleges, where a large number have won significant financial awards.

In the UK, Wells musicians have received more than 60 offers to continue with their instrumental studies at top Conservatoires, and globally pupils have offers at The Norwegian Academy of Music and The Sibelius Academy, part of the University of the Arts Helsinki.

Of particular note are the following pupils, who have received multiple financial scholarships to celebrated institutions such as the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music: Charlotte Arthur (saxophone), Janis Chan (violin), Howard Chiu (viola), Howard Lee (bassoon), Ella Leonard (oboe), Eliza Talman (trumpet), Hannah Williams (French horn) and Danni Woodnutt (trumpet).

Wells' pupils have received excellent results across a wide variety of subjects this year, with particularly high performances in French, Latin, Mathematics, Geography, English Literature, Physics and Chemistry.

In Mathematics well over half the cohort achieved A* or A grades (80 per cent in Further Mathematics), with 50 per cent of pupils gaining the top two grades in Geography and 47 per cent gaining the top two grades in English Literature.

A quarter of physicists gained the very top A* grade, while 44 per cent of chemists achieved A* or A grades. In French and Latin the whole cohort achieved A* or A grades.

On the creative side, half of pupils taking Art, History of Art or Photography achieved an A* or A grade, with 48 per cent of those who studied Music gaining the top two grades.

Head master, Alastair Tighe, said: "At the end of what has been a very different final academic year for our Upper Sixth, these results are a wonderful testament to the ability and, above all, dedication and hard work of our pupils and their teachers.

"Our pupils in particular have had to cope with so much in the last few months, and have demonstrated resilience and commitment throughout.

"They can all feel collectively very proud of their achievements, not only academically but also in an impressive array of other vitally important co-curricular activities and endeavours. My colleagues and I are very proud of them and wish them all well for the exciting years ahead."