TEARS of happiness were shed this morning as students at Winsford Academy found out their A level results.

Students from the Academy’s now-axed sixth form flooded to the school to see whether their hard work had paid off.

One student, Abbi Laidler, 18, burst into tears after finding out she got an A* in photography, C in sociology and a C in art and design.

She now plans to study fine art at Liverpool Hope University now she has the grades she needs.

Watch the video below to see Abbi fight back tears to tell her mum the good news.

Matthew Fitzpatrick, 17, said he was ‘ecstatic’ after learning he had bagged an A* in English literature.

He now plans to study law at Birmingham University after revealing he had been accepted on to the course.

“It’s overwhelming, seriously overwhelming,” he said.

He added: “It would take an apocalypse to ruin my happy mood right now.”

Rachel McGowan, 18, was delighted to be accepted by Stoke University after achieving an A in maths, a C in further maths and a C in Chemistry.

Adele Whitehead, 18, also received the news that she has been accepted into her first choice university to study primary education.

She achieved a B in sociology and a B in psychology, on top of a distinction* in health and social BTEC and a merit in childcare BTEC.

The Academy’s head boy, Harrison Cocker, 19, was also delighted with his results after achieving two Cs and a D. He now plans to go to John Moore’s University to study sociology.

Winsford Academy’s principal, Andrew Taylor-Edwards, said: “We’ve had some remarkable success this year.

"We’ve seen our C, B, A and A* grades increase significantly."

He added: "I’ve taken a slight backwards step to just observe them opening their results and seeing that fear turn, in most cases, top unbridled joy.

"It’s been a pleasure.”

This year was also significant for the sixth form’s AS level students, who will be the Academy’s last A level students for the foreseeable future.

The Academy will no longer offer sixth form study from 2016 due to funding cuts.

Current Year 12 students will still be able to complete their second year of sixth form study from September 2015.

However, current Year 11 students will not have the option of staying on at the school.

Georgia Parkes-Russell was rather modest in her achievements, after achieving an A in English and a C in History.

Chloe Hardiman, 17, was also delighted as she achieved the first B in her life.

Josh Graves, 17, admitting feeling ‘proud’ after achieving a C and a D following a tough year.

He said: “I’m going for a degree in Journalism in university. I’m proud of my results and I’m going to carry on next year and hopefully boost my chances.”

Watch the video below to see Mr Taylor-Edwards give his views on the future of the Academy’s sixth-form.

Elsewhere in the UK, the number of top A-level grades has dipped for the fourth year in a row, while the overall pass rate has risen, official figures show.

The number of boys and girls awarded the coveted A* and A grades narrowly fell from 26 per cent to 25.9 per cent.

But the overall pass rate of A* to E grades has recovered after last year falling for the first time in 30 years, and is back to where it was in 2013 at 98.1%.

Mathematics remains the most popular subject, accounting for 10.9 per cent of all entries, followed by English (10.5 per cent) and biology (7.4 per cent), the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) said.

Girls outperformed boys by 1 per cent overall, but boys continued to earn more A* grades for the fourth year running, with 8.7 per cent achieving a top mark compared with 7.8 per cent of girls.

Meanwhile early UCAS figures show a record number of students have been accepted on to degree courses in the UK, with 409,410 taking up places so far – up 3 per cent on the same point last year.