Students across South West London and Surrey received their GCSE exam results last Thursday (August 22) as schools in the region praised their achievements.

Throughout London and the South East England, students generally performed better than their counterparts in 2018.

The percentage attaining grades C/4 and above (pass rates) went up 0.4 per cent in London to 70.6 per cent, and up 0.6 per cent in the South East to 70.2 per cent this year.

Among the region's impressive results, a number of achievements by schools and students Surrey and south west London stood out in particular.

One of the day's success stories came in Epsom, where students at the Glyn School improved massively on last year's results.

In this year’s class, 79 per cent of students achieved a grade 5 in both English and maths — a significant increase on last year’s 65 per cent.

Assistant headteacher Richard Lightfoot said: "All students and teachers should be incredibly proud of the time taken and the hard work that was poured into their preparation and the stunning results achieved is richly deserved."

The school's top performers included Harry Benton, with nine Grade 9s and a Grade 8, Thomas Stirling with eight Grade 9s and a Grade 7 and Callum Dyer with eight Grade 9s and a Grade 8.

Meanwhile in Kingston, teachers at Kingston Grammar School (KGS) praised their students' GCSE successes after they achieved "the best set of GCSE results in the School’s history" according to a spokesperson.

A remarkable 67 per cent of students at KGS returned all grades of 8 or 9, with nearly 40 per cent at the top grade 9 alone.

"Our students have thrived and begun to demonstrate the fulfilment of their enormous potential," Head Master Stephen Lehec said.

Further south, other schools took massive strides forward in their results scores.

The Beacon School in Banstead, for example, almost doubled the number of top grades achieved at GCSE level.

The number of top Grade 9 results jumped from 18 last year to 34 this year, and the number of Grade 8s from 56 to 69.

James Ford contributed to those impressive stats on receiving a Grade 9 and a Grade 8 in science and 8s in maths and computing.

"I'm looking to go into software development. The teachers here always go one step further for you.

"I was scared to open the envelope. I was going to go away and open it but my friend wanted to do it together so we did," he described.

North of Banstead, at Surbiton High School, students and teachers meanwhile celebrated an excellent 100 per cent pass rate on the day.

"Almost 70 per cent of all results were at grade 9-7, with a 100 per cent pass rate and nearly 50 per cent of all pupils achieving one or more grade 9s, with over one-third achieving five or more at grade 9-8." a spokesperson said.

Rebecca Glover, Principal, added:

"Congratulations to all our Year 11 pupils on their hard work in achieving great results under the rigorous GCSE exams.

"Their results conceal the true merits of the broad education that Surbiton High School provides and they move onto the next stage of their education as well-rounded individuals with compassion, discipline and commitment, willing to push their own boundaries."