Students and staff at the Blue Coat School celebrated another set of "fantastic" GCSE results yesterday morning.

The first group of students to arrive were those who had received the top grades of the year. Together with their parents, the students braved the wet weather to receive their papers outside and get a group photo on the steps of the main entrance, as is the school tradition. The rest of the cohort arrived at 9.30am to pick up their results, with teachers waiting to congratulate them and help set them up for the academic year ahead.

This year, 85 per cent of students achieved a grade 9-4 in English and maths and 68 per cent achieved grades 9-5 in English and maths. At the same time, one in three GCSE grades were 9, 8 or 7, which translates to A*s and A under the former grade system.

Echoing his words from last week's equally impressive set of A-level results, Mr Higgins said he was "absolutely delighted" with this year's cohort. He added: "The best bit about today is seeing the happiness, the joy and the celebration of the young people and their families. It shows all the hard work is worth it. I'm proud of every single one of them. They've worked incredibly hard over the last five years and they've got the results that they deserve."

On behalf of the students, he thanked all the staff and their parents for all their "support behind the scenes". Mr Higgins added: "It's a real team effort, working together to make sure the young people get the outcomes they deserve. You can see the delight. It makes it all worthwhile. So, I'm really happy, not even the rain could dampen our celebrations."

Some of the students were being enrolled at the school's sixth form as we spoke, but others were planning to start new adventures at other colleges and follow different career paths. Mr Higgins said: "Whatever they go on to do next year, we wish all of them the best of luck, and much joy, happiness and success in the future."

Taliyah Hester was overjoyed with her results, which she was revealing with her mum, Lisa, subject by subject. She was particularly surprised with her 9-9 in science, but also received top marks in history, religious studies and English literature. Lisa described how hard her daughter had worked for her results, sitting on her bed with a "rainbow" of papers surrounding her. Taliyah said: "I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I got where I wanted."

Alexis Olenrewaju said it was a "massive weight" off her shoulders, finally getting her results, which have secured her place at the sixth form to study biology, chemistry, maths and French, with plans to study dentistry at university. She said: "I'm ready for the next step, and I think I just want to go into it now."

Another student who already has plans for A-levels and beyond is future surgeon Hafsa Irshad, who received 9s in English literature, English language, religious studies, business and chemistry and 8s in the rest. She has enjoyed her studies over the last couple of years. She said: "I have a really, really good friend group, so it's been really fun with them, hanging around, the little moments in lessons. Also, learning stuff has been really interesting in all the subjects. I've had really good support systems. My family's been really good, my friends have been really good, and everyone has just encouraged me and been really positive."

Friends Samuel Hall and Seth Gregory were both happy that all their hard work had "paid off", thanks to the support from the school. Samuel said: "It's been stressful and it's been a lot of work, but I feel like school's really helped get us through that. They've been really good at getting us through it." Seth said: "We did quite a lot of mocks, which at the time I thought were horrible. I was like: 'Why on earth are we doing these?' But they were really good because when we came to the actual ones it felt much more relaxed. I felt like I knew what I was doing and was able to cope with it a lot better." Both are staying on at Blue Coat and studying maths and physics, with Samuel also taking computer science and Seth studying chemistry.

Kieran Evans is also studying maths, physics and computer science next year. He said: "I got five nines, so that's a lot. But I think I'm most pleased with two sevens in English. I was expecting fives, so it's really, really nice how well I've done. It's been a lot of work. Of course it has. I've had to put a lot of work in for quite a few subjects, and it's nice to see that reflected in what I've done and what I've achieved."

Henrietta Adamson hopes to study medicine at university and is well on her way there with 9s and 8s in the sciences. She said: "It was quite stressful at the end, but Blue Coat really helped with everything. It's really good."

Holly Marshall is looking forward to starting media and photography courses at Blue Coat sixth form next year. Her proud parents, Lianne and David, were both very pleased with their daughter's result. David said: "On to better things. We're over the moon that she's staying on here as well. It's been a great school, and we're so glad that she's able to continue in sixth form here as well, which is brilliant, with all the friends and teachers that she knows."

Joseph Atkins received an 8 in history, along with 7s in design technology, English and sociology. He will be attending sixth form at Hulme Grammar next year, but said it would be hard saying goodbye to his teachers at Blue Coat. Joseph said: "Teachers running up to me, saying, 'What did you get? What did you get?' Or, 'Actually, I had a sneak peek before. I wanted to see how you did.' It fills you with confidence that they obviously want you to stay and they're sad to see you leave. It shows the connection they have with you. It's not just students and teachers, they're more like family, really."