THE ANXIOUS wait came to an end this morning as hundreds of school-leavers from across the borough finally collected their GCSE results.

Children aged 15 and 16 descended on 13 schools to pick up their results and many discovered whether they had done well enough to get into their preferred college.

At Bury Grammar School for Girls, 55.2 per cent of pupils got A or above in all their subjects, compared with 56.5 per cent last year.

In total, 98.6 per cent of students got C or above in all their subjects and 23.5 per cent of pupils got at least nine grades of A or above.

Headmistress Bobby Georghiou, who leaves the school today, said: “While it is becoming harder nationally for students to gain top grades, our girls have continued to perform at this high level.

“These GCSE results represent not only a lot of hard work on the part of the girls themselves, but are also a reflection of the dedication and high-quality torching of our staff.

“I congratulate all of the girls upon the achievement today. They can now move to A-level study with confidence.”

At Bury Grammar School for Boys, 95 per cent of pupils got five or more GCSEs at C or above, compared with 89 per cent last year.

Seventy seven boys from the school sat the exams and 38 per cent of them got seven or more grades of A or above.

Among those students performing well were Daniel Kiss, who is also a keen fencer.

Earlier this year, he represented the school in the Public Schools’ Fencing Championship and won the competition at junior foil level.

Headmaster Richard Marshall said: “I am delighted with the results this year and the boys should be very proud of their achievements.

“The vast majority of boys will continue to study their A-levels with us and join a sixth form with amazing facilities in our recently opened state-of-the-art sixth-form centre, and a school with an impressive record of getting the very best from our students.”

At Parrenthorn High School in Prestwich, 74.6 per cent of pupils got five or more GCSEs at C or above compared with 76 per cent last year.

A total of 168 pupils sat exams and headteacher Mick Fitzgerald congratulated them on their hard work.

He added: “Results, in general, were in line with our expectations and these results compare favourably with previous results.

“There appears to be an issue, yet again, with the reliability of the English language results.

“Our English results, whilst good, are lower than last year and lower than expected. English GCSE results nationally have been an issue for a number of years.

“We will do a full analysis on the English results and challenge the examination board if needed.”

At Elms Bank Specialist Arts College in Whitefield, 33 students sat a range of exams in 16 subjects.

Headteacher Elaine Parkinson said, “Our pupils have worked extremely hard to achieve these excellent results.

“We are very proud of all of them.”

“Congratulations to pupils, parents and staff on the results.

“We wish pupils every success as they start their courses at local colleges.”