Teenagers can look towards a bright future after an impressive haul of A-levels

Students at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington had a good reason to celebrate after achieving a 99 per cent pass rate, with 50 per cent of students achieving A*, A or B grades.

Among the success stories was cystic fibrosis sufferer, Jodie Mitchell, from Darlington, whose results secured her a place on the college's art foundation course.

The 18-year-old, who hopes to go on to university to study fine art, said: "At times it has been hard but I just had to get on with it."

Meanwhile 18-year-old Dominic Birch, from Long Newton, near Stockton, achieved five A* grades, securing his place at Durham University to study history and English, while Michael Jones, also 18, from Sedgefield, who was awarded four A* grades and will read engineering at Cambridge University.

Principal Tim Fisher said: "Our results are once again fantastic and a credit to both students and staff. The overall pass rate of 99 per cent is tremendous."

There were similar scenes at Carmel College in Darlington where students were celebrating a 100 per cent pass rate, with 52 per cent of students securing A*, A or B grades, making the college one of the highest performing in the country.

Eighteen-year-old Elly Humphrey had particular reason to celebrate after achieving two A* and three A grades, securing her place at Cambridge University to study history of art - becoming the first student at the college to do so.

Fellow student Joe Mash also earned a place at Cambridge to study French and law, while Beth Tulloch will study biomedical sciences at Oxford.

Students at Polam Hall secured a pass rate of almost 99 per cent, with 54 per cent of students achieving A*, A or B grades.

Show jumper Laura Robson, who scooped three C grades, will now go on to train for her ultimate ambition - the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

Staff and pupils at a new school in Spennymoor - Whitworth Park School and Sixth Form - celebrated its first batch of A-level results, which exceeded all expectations. Many pupils gained grades between A* and B.

Liam McEneny, 19, is heading off to Leeds University to start a degree in aviation technology and pilot studies.

The Whitworth Park School and Sixth Form pupil gained A-grades in applied IT and applied business plus grade C in maths and physics.

Fellow Whitworth pupil Abigail Ball, 18, gained A*s in Applied business and applied IT plus a grade B in economics.

The teen is heading to Durham University to study business management.

Michael Hall, 18, who attends Whitworth school is heading to Nottingham University to study medicine after gaining impressive exam grades.

He scooped A-grades in maths and physics plus B-grades in biology and chemistry.

Pupils at St John's RC School and Sixth Form College, in Bishop Auckland, achieved a 99.4 per cent pass rate this year with 17 per cent of exams scoring an A* grade and 56 per cent achieving A* to B.

Meanwhile at the nearby King James I Academy, performing arts results stood out with 87.5 per cent of students achieving an A* or A grade.

Teesdale School in Barnard Castle celebrated an overall A-level pass rate of 98.5 per cent, while 20 per cent of all grades achieved by students were A or A*.

Wolsingham School and Community College Sixth Form students achieved some of the best ever results with 24 per cent of results gaining A* or A grades.

Star pupil was Glen Walkey-Stubbs who achieved A*s in biology, maths and chemistry and an A in physics and will now study chemical engineering at Manchester University.

At Durham Johnston School, 36 per cent of pupils gained three or more A* or A grades, 52 per cent of all grades awarded were A* or A and 14 youngsters got into Oxbridge.

At Durham High School for Girls, 39 per cent of grades were returned at A* or A and the pass rate was 100 per cent.

Hannah Wilson achieved four A*s, while Ruth Bentley, of Washington, gained As in Biology, Chemistry and History and will study biomedical science at Durham University.

At Durham School, Alice Brown got two A*s and two As, as did Michael Goodfellow.

Durham Sixth Form Centre enjoyed a record-breaking set of exams in its centenary year, with results well above the national average.

Results also improved at The Hermitage Academy, in Chester-le-Street, where Lewis Sharp achieved an A* and three As and Ben Le Dune gained two A*s and an A.

At Park View School, also in Chester-le-Street, six pupils achieved at least three A* or A grades.

Phil Hodgson, Durham County Council strategic manager support and development, said: "We are delighted with the increase in the average grades achieved in each A level taken. The number of pupils gaining two or more A* to B grades in Durham schools is up by ten per cent, which is a fantastic outcome and continues the excellent progress seen over the last few years.

"This should also mean that with more students achieving the highest grades even more are likely to be successful in their applications to the university of their choice."

Zach Kibirige, 18, who is already a professional rugby player with Newcastle Falons, achieved three As in biology, physical education and psychology at Yarm School.

A-level students achieved a 100 per cent pass rate with more than 95 per cent of grades in the A*-C category and 20 per cent in the A* bracket.

And at The King's Academy in Middlesbrough a pupil who only arrived in the UK two years ago from Lithuania with limited English is celebrating her A* success in chemistry and A grades in physics, biology and mathematics.

Ugne Dudzeviciute, 18, the daughter of a consultant at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough will read physics at Durham University.

"The hardest thing for me was learning all the scientific terms in English because you need to know the exact words but the teachers here gave me a lot of support," she said.

The King's Academy has seen a marked increase in the percentage of top grades with 61 per cent being at B or better, up from 52 per cent last year.

Within the 100 per cent pass rate, the percentage of A*- C grades at the Coulby Newham school was up by nine per cent to 89 per cent.

Middlesbrough College scored a 99.7 per cent A Level pass rate.

Nunthorpe Academy has seen its A Level students achieve an A*-E pass rate of 100 percent.

Just under a quarter (24 per cent) were awarded an A*-A pass with those achieving an A*-B pass coming in at 62 per cent.

Overall, the percentage of A* results has increased by six per cent at Teesside High School, Eaglescliffe, this year compared to 2012 and 25 per cent of all results were A* to A Grades. Fifty two per cent of all results were grades A* to B and 80 per cent of results were A* to C Grades.

Students at Stockton Riverside College Bede Sixth Form celebrated the college's best ever A-Level results - achieving a 99 per cent pass rate.

Maths and science were top of the class, including 100 per cent of further maths students and 72 per cent of physics students achieving high A* to B grades.

Twins Hannah and Jessica Holmes, 18, both achieved three A* grades in their A-Levels and both will study geography at Durham University.

A Northallerton College student who has battled with a lifelong disability is celebrating after securing top exam results.

Tom Rogers, 18, achieved two A*s and two A grades in applied ICT double award, English and Psychology despite suffering cerebral palsy.

Tom, who requires full time care, is now set to take up a place at Northumbria University to study psychology.

"I am absolutely elated with my results," he said.

Ripon Grammar School head teacher Martin Pearman said this year's A level results are the best in the history of the school. The pass rate of 100 per cent was outstanding with 79.3 per cent of the grades being A* to B with over half the grades being A* or A.