Year 11 students at Oasis Academy Coulsdon were celebrating yesterday as they opened their GCSE results at the Academy.

Executive Principal, David Millar said: "Today we are celebrating the culmination of months and years of hard work and dedication of students and staff. So many of this particular year group have surpassed and excelled, some of them overcoming significant barriers to achieve success. Watching the students' faces break into smiles and tears of relief and joy is one of the best days in the academic year. I am so proud of all their achievements"

One Academy student in particular had a significant challenge to overcome; when Manikandan Nagaraj arrived in the UK from India at the age of 10, he could not speak any English and had to learn from his teachers and school friends. Now aged 16, he was almost speechless with delight having achieved 14.5 GCSEs, 9 of which were at the top A*-C grades.

Proving that hard work, grit and determination equals success, Hannah Fifoot from Coulsdon and Kirsty Winters from New Addington smashed their predicted targets based on Government benchmarks and data. Kirsty achieved 11.5A* - Cs including English & Maths with 3 A grades in English Literature, Textiles and Citizenship and Hannah achieved 10A*- Cs including English & Maths. "Both girls have not stopped working since they joined us in Year 7 and have shown phenomenal determination. They fully deserve their success." said Assistant Principal, Catrin Green.

At the beginning of Year 11, Zoe Turner from South Croydon realised that the only way to success was to attend school every day and give 100% effort. What a great decision she made! When she opened her results she discovered she achieved 13 A*-Cs including English and Maths.

Many of the year group were celebrating A* success:

Sixteen year old Jasmine Bell from South Croydon was thrilled with her A*s in English Literature, History and Textiles and A Grades in English, Maths, French, Citizenship and RE. Overall she achieved a total of 13 GCSEs at A*- C Grades.

Twins Natalie & Marcus McLeod from Thornton Heath, achieved a total of 24 A* - C Grades between them, with Natalie overjoyed with her A*s in Biology, Chemistry, English Literature, History and RE and A's in Maths, Physics, French, Business Studies, Citizenship and Geography. Her twin brother Marcus achieved an A in History, B's in Science, Geography and Citizenship and C grades in his other subjects. "I'm so happy for my brother, we've both worked so hard for these results" said Natalie.

Lokesh Noruthun from South Croydon was one of the top performing boys achieving 14 A*- Cs inc English and Maths with A*s in Maths, French, History and RE and A Grades in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, ICT, Citizenship, Geography.

Iftekhar Mullani from Thornton Heath had the most GCSEs in the Academy: 15 A*-Cs including English and Maths, with A Grades in Biology, Chemistry, Urdu and RE.

In what must be the best early birthday present ever, Arran Trouse from Caterham couldn't wait to tell his Mum about his success: 14 GCSEs, 11 of which were top A*-C Grades including Maths and English.

Head Boy and Head Girl Dijon Andoh and Aisha Yakubu both achieved 13 A*-Cs with English and Maths and were thrilled with their results. "Dijon and Aisha have been excellent ambassadors for the Academy over the past year and I am delighted with their academic success" said Carmen Patel, Head of Year 11.

Early analysis of the results indicate that 63% of Year 11 students achieved 5A*-C including English and Maths; 92% - 5A*-C; 95% - 5A* - G; and 100% - 1A* - G.

Andy Booth, Associate Principal said: "These initial indications are good overall and are in line with targets set by Government benchmarks. We are still waiting for some results to be confirmed and will publish our final figures as soon as we receive all Year 11 results. I am delighted to report that we have also received some outstanding GCSE results for Years 9 and 10 and I am confident that attainment levels at this Academy will continue to rise.