GCSEs: South Hampstead High School girls celebrate A* glory on results day

Girls at South Hampstead High School are celebrating a stunning A* performance in this year’s GCSE exams.

Pupils at the prestigious all-girls school, in Maresfield Gardens, Hampstead, achieved A* or A in 84.3 per cent of exams, with 53.2 per cent of entries graded A* and more than a fifth of the year achieving 10 or more A*s.

Overall, 99 per cent of entries achieved A* to C grades.

Among the most impressive of performers was Katie Mennis, 16, of West Hampstead, who obtained 13 A*s.

Her grade haul included an A* with distinction in further maths - dubbed a “super A*” - and an A* in classical Greek.

Her friends Bella Carrington, 16, of Hampstead, and Alicia Kaplan, 16, of Kentish Town, both picked up 12 A*s, as did Afra Qawi, 16, of Marylebone.

New headteacher Helen Pike, presiding over her first GCSE results day since her appointment, said: “It is a delight to see the girls enjoying their success. Their achievements are all the more remarkable because they are so busy contributing to the wider life of the school while studying for their exams.”