There were smiles, tears of joy and plenty of proud family moments as students at St John Fisher Catholic High School in Wigan collected their GCSE results , following a year of improved outcomes and an increase in the number of top grades achieved across the school.

This year's cohort performed particularly strongly across a range of subjects, with impressive results in the sciences, humanities and languages. Biology and Physics both saw more than 90% of students achieve a standard pass, while Spanish delivered an especially strong set of results, with almost half of students securing the highest grades.

Several students achieved outstanding individual results, with a number securing strings of Grades 7, 8 and 9 across their subjects. Among the highest performers were the following, all of whom achieved exceptional grade profiles.

Maria : Eight Grade 9s and two Grade 7s

Anmariya : Five Grade 9s, two Grade 8s and two Grade 7s

Ava: Six Grade 9s, two Grade 8s and one Grade 6.

Olivia: All grades between 7 and 9.

Samantha: Entire profile at Grades 7-9.

Alexandros: Two Grades 9s, three Grade 8s and two Grade 7s

Shahan: One Grade 9, five Grade 8s and three Grade 7s

Thomas: One Grade 9, *2 in Sports Studies and two Grade 8s

Executive Headteacher Mrs Alison Rigby said: "We are very pleased with our results this year. Our overall achievement has significantly improved from last year. We have had a bumper year for our excellence grades, with more pupils achieving Grade 7-9 in a variety of subjects.

All of our pupils who worked hard, with the support of our staff, have achieved well. It was an absolute pleasure to share the successes with our pupils this morning. To see their smiling faces and proud parents makes all our hard work worthwhile.

We wish them the utmost success as they move on to their future studies and careers."