Will this year's A Level Results Day see more students ditch Exmouth for Exeter?

Local students and staff celebrated this morning as A Level results were handed out at a time when competition for university places has never been so fierce. Local post-16 providers, Exmouth Community College and Exeter College both had reason to be happy, though Exeter College principal Richard Atkins has record-breaking results to shout about... again.

Exmouth Community College saw a number of students excel in their chosen subjects, with a superb overall pass rate of 93 per cent, though this was slightly lower than last year's 95%. Students securing A to C grades fell from 63 to 61%. But Exeter College, that attracts a number of students from Exmouth each year, has again broken all previous records with its A Level results – this year achieving an outstanding overall pass rate of 99.2%.

Principal Richard Atkins said: In this particularly tough climate, where university places are becoming increasingly difficult to secure, it is very gratifying to think that students from all backgrounds are achieving such excellent standards.

"Whether through our Reach Academy for gifted and talented students or our team of specialist Progression advisors, throughout the year we ensure they are well prepared for considering their future options, be that entry in to higher education or employment."

But Exmouth Community College student Ross Jarvis, 18, (photo no.2) sees no reason for there to be an exodus of students to Exeter College. Very satisfied with his three A grades in Geography, Law and Politics, Ross is now looking forward to starting his undergraduate studies in Law at Warwick University at the end of September.

His response to three impressive grades? "Relieved. I just feel very relieved. I felt that I did enough but this confirms it."

"The thing with Exmouth at post-16 is that everyone knows everyone and on the Telford site, everything you need is in easy reach and you know who to talk to. I wouldn't want to go to Exeter and have to go chasing around looking for something or someone. Exmouth only has about 400 in post-16, too, so it's much smaller."

Simon Tanner, Assistant Principal and head of post 16 said: "Nearly all of our students have managed to get on the courses they wanted, so the exams have opened up the opportunities they were meant to. For these reasons, I don't want to be negative about the results, as I explained to the Exmouth Journal reporter. However, our results have been showing a steady improvement over the last few years, and we hoped for that trend to continue, so a drop of even a couple of percentage points is going to get our serious attention, as we are determined to acheive the success our students deserve. We need time to look in to the detail but a main factor seems to be that the girls did significantly better than the boys, and with a high percentage of boys in the year, this affected the overall pattern, so the gender gap will be a major focus for us next year, along with all the other initiatives we are carrying out to continue the process of improvement."

Are you happy with your A Level results and, if not, have your lecturers jumped in and offered the support you need?

Share your results day successes and sagas, and photos of your celebrations, on Exmouth People - and tell us whether or not you think it's better to stay on at your local school after your GCSEs or go further afield to alternative colleges and start afresh.

Or did you go to a local independent school or grammar? Tell us your Results Day stories here and post your advice to those who are set to receive their GCSE results next week, and have to decide on their post-16 choices.