A big hug from big brother Gaurav was Bhavani Bhardwaj’s reward for achieving a stellar set of results. With four A*s, one A, one 9 and four 8s, Bhavani slightly exceeded Gaurav’s grades from two years ago – not that he was holding that against her. “To see your sister grow up into a young woman and smash it – it’s beautiful,” said Gaurav, who himself has just achieved one A* and two As in his A Levels. Community-mindedness runs in the family, with Gaurav having recently won the JEB Singleton Governors’ Memorial Prize for service to the community, and Bhavani having served as both secretary and president of Bradford Grammar School’s Interact Club, a junior version of the Rotary Club. She will now go on to study A Levels in psychology, biology, history and either economics or chemistry. Mum Kamlesh said she couldn’t be prouder of both her children. “I’m blessed to have them in my life,” she said.

After he gained an impressive five A*s and five 9s, Danyal Akhtar’s mum, Nasreen, said he was definitely in line for a reward. “We’re going to treat him to something, though we haven’t decided what yet,” she said. “I think having a new system made it more stressful because there was a lot of uncertainty but I think I managed!” said Danyal. “I thought I’d done terribly in maths – I didn’t think I’d get a 9 – so that was a big surprise.” Danyal said that doing yoga had helped to relieve the exam stress. “It really got me through,” he said.

Twins Alaynah Khan and Myrah Khan both did exceptionally well and were ‘ecstatic’ to pick up their results together. Mum Samina was ‘still in shock’ after speaking to the girls, “I’m shaking, it’s just amazing news! I’m feeling very emotional and can’t even express how very proud I am of them – it’s even more emotional when you have two children you’re thinking about; I’m quite simply over the moon.” Keen debater and Hockey player, Alaynah, scored an impressive five A*s, one 9, two 8s and a 5 and will go onto study biology, chemistry, maths and german at A Level, “I’m just so relieved with my results and I hope to go into a career in medicine, so I’m so happy!”

It was all about Usman Omar’s attitude, said his mum Fatema, after he received six A*s, three 9s and one 8 in his GCSEs. “It was wonderful,” she said. “He had the sense to realise that these exams were going to be different.” Usman, who enjoys playing cricket and debating, said that after achieving such good results he might consider Oxbridge.

Twins Alaynah Khan and Myrah Khan both did exceptionally well and were ‘ecstatic’ to pick up their results together. Mum Samina was ‘still in shock’ after speaking to the girls, “I’m shaking, it’s just amazing news! I’m feeling very emotional and can’t even express how very proud I am of them – it’s even more emotional when you have two children you’re thinking about; I’m quite simply over the moon.” Myrah did fantastic with two A*s, two As, one B, one 9, two 7s and a 6, and will go on to study Spanish, English literature, business studies and biology “it hasn’t really sunk in yet. I’m so pleased and would love to go into law further down the line, so my future is looking exciting.”

Muhammad scored an impressive four A*s, one A, one 9, one 8, two 7s and a five, “I’m just shell-shocked really; it’s really amazing news. I want to go onto study chemistry, biology and politics. My dream is to go into medicine and I feel one step closer to my goal now.”

Hard work certainly paid off for Emelye Gill, who was predicted Bs at the end of Year 9 in both her English exams but went on to score A*s, along with a further three A*s, four 9s and one 7. She had her sights set on Cambridge and realised that Bs just wouldn’t be good enough. “I’ve been revising since December. I didn’t want to let myself down,” said Emelye, who paid tribute to the support she received from teachers at Bradford Grammar School. Emelye’s dad, Jonathan, is an old boy of the school and said it hadn’t changed that much since his day. “The geography teacher, Andy Smith, was still here until last year,” he said.

Amaan and his mum Sofina were both ‘absolutely thrilled’ with his fabulous results. Sofina said “we were both so nervous and now in complete shock, I’m so proud of Amaan!” Amaan gained six A*s, one 9, two 8s and a 6 and would love to go into Medicine further down the line.

Having scored an impressive five A*s, one 9, three 8s and one 7 in her GCSEs, Grace Lancaster said she would probably go into medicine. She said: “I didn’t think I’d get some of the results that I did.” Her mum Louise said: “She did it all herself. She was very studious. Sometimes we had to say, ‘you need to go to bed now’.”

Joseph Hopper’s overwhelming reaction on receiving his results was one of surprise. “I’m a bit shocked”, he admitted, after discovering he’d achieved five A*s, four 9s and one 8. His mum Liz, however, felt the grades were exactly what he deserved, having worked so hard to achieve them. “We’re really delighted,” she said. “We couldn’t really ask for much better.”

Organisation was key to Lucy Hopton’s exam revision, with different days for different subjects and an emphasis on biology and chemistry, as, according to Lucy, there was a lot of work involved. It paid off – Lucy achieved five A*s, four 9s and one 8. She now plans to study A Levels in history, Latin, German and classical civilisation at Bradford Grammar School.

For anyone to achieve five A*s, one A, three 9s and one 8 in their GCSEs is no mean feat – but especially not for someone who is only 15. The youngest in his year at Bradford Grammar School, Joshua Poulsen doesn’t turn 16 until Sunday (Aug 26) – but that didn’t stop him from having the drive and commitment to succeed. “My predicted grades were high so I knew I had the potential to achieve but it was just doing it on the day,” said Joshua. “The teachers were always there if you needed them.”

“Her grandad always knew she had it in her. It’s just nice to see the effort pay off,” said Francesca Grace’s mum, Philippa, proudly, after she opened the envelope to reveal five A*s, one 9, three 8s and one 7. Despite having had a great time at Bradford Grammar School, Francesca said she was ready for pastures new. “I’m off to Greenhead College in Huddersfield to do A Levels in biology, art French and English literature,” she said. “But before that, I’m having a gap year.”

Izzy Moorhouse was ‘over the moon’ with her fantastic results, “I just can’t believe it, I’m so happy! I want to go onto study History, Politics and Art at A Level. I’ll definitely be celebrating later.” Izzy scored an impressive A*, four As, one 9, one 7, two 6s and a 5.