IT was triple delight for three sets of twins picking up their GCSE results at the same school.

Sixteen-year-old twins Niamh and Annabel Peckitt, from Croft, Ellicia and Jess Dillon, from West Park, and Jodie and Beth Friebel, of Middleton-St-George, passed a grand total of 56 exams between them, and all plan to go on to further education.

For Hurworth School, near Darlington, it is the second-best year of results in the school’s history, with an 80 per cent pass rate of grade C and above, including English and Maths.

The new marking scheme awards grades 1 to 9 for Maths, English Literature and English Language, while other subjects are still currently graded A* to E.

Top of the class was Lauren Traynor, from Middleton-St-George, gaining a fantastic 5A*, 2A and a 7, 8 and 9 in her Maths and English.

“I really didn’t expect to do this well,” said Lauren. “I hadn’t done as well in my mock exams, so this was a big surprise. I’m delighted with these results.”

She now plans to study Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Spanish at Carmel College, with a view to training in Medicine.

Close behind her was Ashley Stayman-Collin with 5A*, 2A and a 6, 7, 9 in Maths and English.

Head Teacher Dean Judson said: "We are once again delighted to report a first-class set of results for our students across the board.

"This year has seen the introduction of the new 9 to 1 grades for Maths and English, and despite the uncertainty of what this might bring, the staff and students at the school have once again responded admirably to this challenge.

“It has been lovely to see so many happy students and their families collecting excellent results. So many of them have been thanking myself and their teachers for the last five years which have led to this moment." 

In a triumph against the odds, student Ben Romaines achieved 6 GCSEs and 8s in both English Literature and English Language, despite suffering from ME and only managing 54 per cent attendance rate in Year 11. He plans to go on to further education and then to university.