A* was the most common A-level grade at Brighton College again this year, with a pre-Covid record-breaking number of 338 A* grades.

In all, there were 69 pupils with three A* grades, 25 with 4 A*s, and five with 5 A*s.

The proportion of grades at A*-B was almost identical to that achieved in 2019 before Covid.

Top performer was Mike Nekrasov with seven A*s who now heads off to Oxford to study maths and computer science.

Also celebrating is Stan Norman with five A* grades.

A keen cricketer, representing Jersey, he is heading off to Cambridge to study natural sciences.

Others with five A*s included Thomas Penner, Ben Becarevic, Andy Tam and Tommy Zhang.

Reeves-Bonoldi who joined Brighton on its Opening Doors scholarship and is now off to Cambridge to read history and Spanish, with four A*s to his name.

Hermione Boyle achieved four A*s and one A, and heads to Cambridge to read medicine.

Head of school, Sarah Keast-Butler, heads to Cambridge with three A*s and one A – in her case, to read geography. Cambridge remains the single most common university destination over the last five years for Brighton College pupils. There has also been a noticeable increase in applications to North America, with Sam Patterson (with four A*s) among a significant cohort heading off to the USA, in his case Duke University.

Headmaster Richard Cairns spoke of his delight: “I am so proud of our sixth form leavers. This was one of the most diverse year groups we have ever had, containing as it did many pupils on our opening doors scholarship programme as well as several of the 23 Ukrainian refugees who joined us on similar scholarships.

“Aside from this, it also includes pupils with such diverse interests – from those aiming to become professional sportsmen and sportswomen in the footsteps of Marcus Smith (who represents England in the World Cup next month) to artists, engineers, dancers, musicians, historians and computer scientists.

“I am delighted for all of them. They have had a tough five years through the pandemic and deserve every congratulation.”