A star student plunged to her death from 300ft cliffs days before starting her degree course at Oxford.

Alice McGovern, 18, was reported missing from her home near Heathfield at 8.30pm on Monday.

The family car was discovered 20 miles away at the top of the Seven Sisters, between Eastbourne and Seaford, after a major police search.

Her body was recovered from the beach below just before noon yesterday.

Alice had been awarded the Gibbs Cup for Academic Excellence when she left St Leonards-Mayfield School, where her mother Marion was deputy head.

She had offers to read chemistry at three Oxford colleges and had accepted a place at New College, where she was due to start next week.

Her devastated family were last night inconsolable at their home in the village of Punnetts Town.

A friend said: "They are all at a loss as to why she did it.

"There was a suggestion she was suffering stress. Clearly, she was under a lot of pressure from starting at Oxford.

"But this was so utterly out of character.

"It is so sad and such a waste of a talented, young womans life. None of us can believe it."

Alice had never run away before and police were immediately concerned for her safety when her parents raised the alarm on Monday evening.

It was already dark, so calls were made to friends and relatives.

At first light yesterday, officers from all over Sussex were brought in to join the search. Police, coastguards, specialist teams and the police helicopter were involved.

The discovery of the car at Crow Link, between Birling Gap and Cuckmere Haven, led teams to scour the clifftops, the surrounding countryside, and the rocks below, where Alice was found.

Two years ago, Alice gained 11 A* grade GCSEs, a week after her elder sister Emma achieved 4 A's at A-level and her father Chris was awarded an A in his Italian GCSE.

A promising sportswoman, she captained the Roman Catholic girls' school's under-16 hockey team to victory in the Sussex Schoolgirls' Championships.

Julia Dalton, head teacher at the £18,000-a-year school in Mayfield, said: "We are doing everything we can to support the family at this terrible time and respect their wish to grieve privately.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with them at this terrible time.

Police are not treating Alice's death as suspicious. A post-mortem is due later this week.

Chief Inspector Rex Matthews, Wealden police commander, said: "Many of us have children and it has made us all stop and think.

"I want to stress how deeply saddened we all are and that our thoughts and hearts are with Alice and her family."