When Stacey Duah first joined La Sainte Union Catholic School, she had low SATs scores and was badly behaved.

But today, she opened her GCSE results to find she had passed all 10 subjects. What is more, she achieved an A* in religious education, and As in history and English literature.

Known to headteacher Maureen Williams as the school’s “star pupil”, Stacey’s results follow her transformation from naughty youngster to hard-working prize winner and mentor to first year students.

Stacey said: “I just didn’t care about school at all. When I started off in Year 7, I was badly behaved but now, I’m a new person.

“I remember an assembly where the head talked to us about how GCSEs were the passport to our future. It really kicked me into action and I started to see the results.

“Hard work really does pay off.”

Stacey began to dedicate herself to her academic subjects, but also to helping other students at school as a peer mentor.

In that role, she talks to first year pupils about her own experiences and tells them that if they work hard, they can get good results.

Last year, she received the school’s Jack Petchey award for being a conscientious student and giving back to the community.

“It was a big shock to get it because before, I would see other pupils get it and say ‘wow’ I will never be able to win that,” Stacey said.

She will now study A-levels in English literature, history, religious education and either drama or law at LaSwap sixth-form consortium.