HOLYROOD Academy in Chard are celebrating 'a significant increase' in the number of students hitting A* or A grades in their A Levels this year.

There was a 99% pass rate when the results came out on Thursday with 21% of students awarded A* and A grades and 42% received A* to B.

Principal Martin Brook hailed this year's results as a huge success, adding: "These top grades create fantastic opportunities for our students with several of them now being able to access some of the top universities in the country."

Jorge Da Silva, for whom English is a second language, got two A*s and three A's and is now going on to an art foundation course before his degree in 2015 with hopes of breaking into the fashion industry.

Pip Liggins is off to Lancaster University after she bagged an A* and three A's including 100% in her Pure Maths paper.

Josh Bawler was blown away with his grades, getting and A* and two A's along with an A in his extended project qualification which means he can apply to a better university than he was previously offered a place at. He wants to study media production.

Jon Simmons, who joined Holyrood two years ago, overcame significant learning difficulties to achieve an A and two Bs and created experimental electronics projects alongside his A Levels.

Jemima Farey is taking a gap year after securing two As and a B but hopes to pursue her dream as a folksinger and in the performing arts business.

Mr Brook described this year's results as 'a stepping stone' as they intend to grow the sixth form in the coming years with more students and more subjects on offer.

He added: "The results were thoroughly deserved by this group of students and are testament to their attitude and hard work over the last two years.

"I thank the teaching staff for the incredible amount of work they have put in to supporting this group of students."