PUPILS were jumping for joy after opening their A Level results yesterday.

Sixth forms in Maldon and Burnham celebrated an excellent set of exam scores for its 2018 cohort.

Plume Academy in Fambridge Road, Maldon made notable improvements.

The percentage of pupils passing their exams with A*-E grades was 96 per cent.

This was a slight decrease on last year’s 98.6 per cent score.

Almost half of all A Level entries resulted in A*-B grades.

Carl Wakefield, principal of Plume Academy, said: “I am exceptionally proud of the results achieved by our college students this year, particularly during a time of increased demand and expectations in terms of the new subject curriculum content.

“I am also extremely pleased that virtually all of our Year 13 students have secured their first-choice university place, and that a number have also secured high quality apprenticeships at reputable organisations both locally as well as in the city of London.

“The bottom line is that all of this cannot happen without a huge amount of hard work being put in by our students themselves, and while working in collaboration with a fully committed and highly skilled team of staff.

“It has been an absolute pleasure to work alongside them all.”

Top scoring students included Daniel Dangerfield who is heading to Warwick University to study physics after securing two A*s and two As.

Freya Cox is also off to Warwick to study law after securing A* in law and As in Spanish and English.

Ethan Whitely is starting an apprenticeship after getting two Bs and a Distinction * in BTEC graphics.

Ruth Thornton secured an A* and two As and is set to read French and German at Bristol University.

Ruth Clark, college lead, added: “In addition to congratulating our excellent students, I would like to thank our parents and carers for their support, and our teachers for their unwavering dedication.

“It has been wonderful to witness so many delighted students collecting results at the academy this morning.

“On a final note, I would like to wish our Year 13 students well for the future and thank them for their hard work and commitment during their time at Plume Academy.”

Ormiston Rivers Academy in Southminster Road, Burnham, received an 100 per cent A*to E pass rate in eleven A Level subjects including biology, chemistry, English literature, geography, history and law.

More than half of the students at the academy will be continuing on to higher education at some of the country’s leading universities in fields such as architecture, English and American literature, medical science among others.

Joan Costello, principal, said: “We are delighted with today’s A Level results and the fantastic outcomes achieved by our students, who have worked so hard and thoroughly deserve their success.

“So many of them have secured places on prestigious courses and at leading universities and we have no doubt that they will continue to achieve highly in their next chapter.

“A huge thank you to all the students, staff and parents who have worked incredibly hard over the past two years.”