PUPILS at The Derby High School in Bury said they are 'relieved and happy' after receiving GCSE results.

Top performer Amal Ashraf, received a fantastic eight GCSEs at grade 9 and one at grade 8.

Meanwhile high achiever Sam Chadwick, from Walmersley, celebrated a grade 9 in English, 8s in maths, French and combined science, and other high grades.

He said: "I'm really happy with the results. Getting a 7 in geography was a big surprise because I wasn't expecting to do well.

"Overall, I was very happy and relieved. It has been a long time coming.

"It took lots of revision to get here."

Pupil Mohammad Juma, aged 16, said: "I came into school thinking I was going to do a lot worse than I did. I was so nervous. I didn't want to open the results.

"I'd done five or six hours of studying a day in the last three or four months — maybe it was a bit excessive.

"But it turned out that all the hard work paid off."

Headteacher Helen Hubert congratulated pupils and praised them for their commitment to their studies.

She said: "The results have gone up again in English and Maths.

"We have one student who has achieved eight 9s and one 8 which is absolutely fantastic.

"This has been a wonderful Year 11. They really are just a brilliant group of young people who have been keen to do well and have worked incredibly hard.

"They value their education and recognise the importance of it.

"We are very proud of them."