An uncertain year for GCSEs has not put off hard-working students in Merton who have achieved ‘record-breaking’ results this year.

Thousands of nervous students picked up their results yesterday, with some even sweeping the board with all A* grades.

Kai Konishi-Dukes, a pupil at King's College School in Wimbledon achieved 15 A* grades.

He also got an A, the top grade possible, in his Additional Maths exam.

Merton Council’s cabinet member for education, Councillor Martin Whelton, said the figures are record-breaking.

Coun Whelton said 73 per cent of pupils in Merton got five A* to C grades, not including English and maths, which beats the national average of 68.8 per cent.

A total of 66 per cent of pupils in the whole borough achieved five A* to C grades, including English and maths, which is an improvement from 62.6 per cent from last year.

Many schools recorded their best ever year for results.

Among them was Raynes Park High School which said the percentage of students achieving five or more A* to C grades including English and maths was 57 per cent - up from 44 per cent last year.

Ursuline High School reported 87 per cent of youngsters achieving five A* to C grades including English and maths.

Boys at Rutlish School in Wimbledon achieved 70 per cent A* to C grades this year, with ten star pupils achieving straight A* or A grades.

Ricards Lodge in Wimbledon recorded 68 per cent of its students got five A* to C grades, including English and maths.

Harris Academy in Morden were proud to announce 56 per cent of its pupils gaining five A* to C grades, including English and maths.

A total of 73 per cent of students at Harris Academy Merton in Mitcham have achieved five good GCSEs, and 60 per cent did so including maths and English.

A statement from the school said 84 per cent of students achieved an A* to C grade in maths and 69 per cent in English.

Principal Leo Gilbert said: "The results in our school have improved substantially and dramatically over the past few years, although we are disappointed they dipped this year.

“Despite this, there are individual students who did very well and I would like to congratulate and thank Year 11 for their consistent hard work.”

Coun Whelton said: “We are very pleased with the performance this year.

“This is a record-breaking figure – we are delighted at the hard work and high achievements.

“Merton has exceeded the national average.”

The Department for Education announced in July it would reform GCSEs to make them more challenging.

Among the plans is to concentrate more on British history, make languages and maths harder and to have more content covered in science GCSE courses.

The DofE said the national A* to C pass rate including all subjects in the figure has risen from 68.1 per cent in 2013 to 68.8 per cent this year.