Sixth-formers in Shropshire were celebrating today after another record-breaking year for A-level results across the county.

Scores of students are looking forward to spending the next three years at university after it was revealed nationally the pass rate had risen for the 28th year in a row.

It is the first year teenagers have been able to get an A* grade — the new top grade — and one in 12 across the country managed to get the top mark in one or more subjects.

At New College in Telford, students and staff were celebrating after its best-ever set of results.

More than 1,200 students received A and AS level results, with a record 98 per cent achieving grades from A* to E and 33 per cent getting Bs or above.

Star performers were Danielle Wright, from Wellington, who got three As and one B, and Philip Gallagher, from Stirchley, Telford, who netted one A-star grade and 4 As.

Principal Graham Clark said: “These are excellent results, which reflect the skills and talents of our students and are a culmination of much hard work and determination.”

Staff and students at Shrewsbury Sixth Form College were celebrating after securing a high percentage of the first ever A* grades.

Principal Martin Ward said: “This is another set of tremendous A-level results. The pass rate is an impressive 98.5 per cent with significantly high proportions of higher grades.

“We hope that with all the concerns about university places that these results will serve as a strong base for student progression to higher education and employment.”

At Concord International College, near Shrewsbury, there were nearly 200 A*grades.

Neil Hawkins, college principal, said: “The 2010 A-level results mark another academic high-point for Concord. It is astounding that the 150 Concord leavers achieved 197 A* grades.

“For our high achieving and dedicated students, the new A* grade is an excellent reward for their efforts – it differentiates at the top end of the ability spectrum.”

Meanwhile, at Shrewsbury High School, students and staff were celebrating with 12 of the 51 pupils entered achieving straight A* or A grades.

Marilyn Cass, head of the school, said: “In a year when getting a university place is proving extremely difficult, it is good to know that by choosing the right school you can improve your child’s chances of success.

“Our pupils and staff have worked very hard over the past two years and their success is well deserved.”

Adcote School, near Shrewsbury, also registered another set of top results with 47 per cent of all grades either A or B.

Gary Wright, headmaster, said: “Although exam results are by no means our only measure of success, academic performance is nevertheless crucial in helping our students achieve their aspirations.”

At Bridgnorth Endowed School and Oldbury Wells School, both in Bridgnorth, 99 per cent of students got at least an E grade while 40 per cent secured grades at B or above. The sixth forms were joined last year to form the Bridgnorth Sixth Form Partnership.

Star performers from Oldbury Wells were Daniel Richards, with five A*, and Christina Baker, with four A* and an A, while at Bridgnorth Endowed, Tom Hammond and Anna Armstrong both got an A* and four As.

Phil Loveday, headteacher at Bridgnorth Endowed School, said: “We are so pleased with the exceptional results of our Bridgnorth Sixth Form Partnership students this year and would like to congratulate students and staff alike.”

Shifnal’s Idsall School pupil Elliot Brammer, 18, will go on to study English at Bristol University after getting an A* and two As, while pal Robert Goode is also Bristol-bound after netting two A* and a B.

No results have yet been released from the Thomas Telford School in Telford.

Meanwhile Telford twins James and Robert Drew both got identical grades in Maths after getting their results at Wrekin College today. Both got an A* for Maths as the college said 40 per cent of students got either an A or A*.

Six sixth-formers have secured places at Oxford or Cambridge at Adams Grammar School in Newport, where five pupils — Lorna Hemingway, Glory Lai, Joseph Gardener, Matthew Clayton and Ben Claxton — secured four A-stars.

And Adams College, Wem, the sixth-form centre of the Thomas Adams School, was today celebrating its best ever set of A-level results.

Staff and students at Ludlow College were celebrating after the college achieved an overall pass rate of 99.7 per cent.

Jonathan Davis, acting principal, said: “I would particularly like to congratulate those who did chemistry, German, philosophy, law, human biology or politics as they have achieved an outstanding 100 per cent A to C pass rate.

“A total of 74 A or A*s were awarded in A2 papers and more than half of all the A2 subjects we offer achieved 80 per cent  A to C grades.”

The proportion of grades A* to C at Walford and North Shropshire College was 68 per cent this year with 15 per cent achieving grade A and four per cent the new A* grade.

Principal Andrew Tyley said: “These results probably matter more this year. Students have been under tremendous pressure to achieve high grades and many have achieved excellent results.”

Councillor Aggie Caesar-Homden, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: “Early indications are that Shropshire’s results in the round are again good and that it looks like being another very successful year.

By Wayne Beese