Staff and pupils are also celebrating after several years of hard work and dedication have led to some outstanding results for individual pupils at schools across the city.

At Parrs Wood High School in Didsbury the school was celebrating its best ever results and has over the last few years seen its results consistently improve.

Top performing pupils at the school were Sam Devine and Emily Hoyle who both achieved an astounding twelve GCSEs – all of them at  A* grade.  Sam and Emily weren’t however the only high fliers at the school – 31 students in total achieved at least ten or more GCSEs all at grades A* or A.

Andy Shakos, Headteacher at Parrs Wood High School, said: “It’s been a record-breaking year for GCSE results at the school and follows consistently good outcomes in previous years.

“Our results are all the more exceptional considering the ongoing changes to syllabuses, assessments and grade thresholds.

“The fact we’ve got the best results in the school’s history this year is a fantastic achievement for students and staff, and is testament to their hard work and commitment over the last few years.”

Results were also up this year at Abraham Moss High School with particular successes including student Aarij Elahi who achieved 9 A* and 1A, and Mohamed Ben Al Fakih who got 7 A* and 3A grades.

Headteacher at Abraham Moss High School, Gillian Houghton, said: “Consistently good quality teaching is the core business of our school.  We don’t believe in setting a glass ceiling on young people’s potential – we prefer to believe the sky’s the limit for them, and this can be seen in our results this year.  I am hugely proud of them, our staff and our community – this success is very well deserved.”

At Our Lady’s RC High School, Blackley, the school was also celebrating some great results with their students including Olivia Owen who achieved 6A* 4A, Imogen Hill 4A* 3A 3B, and Nikol Nechaick who passed 9 GCSEs in total including 3A* 5A 1B.

Also in north Manchester at the Creative and Media Academy the school’s Headgirl Jasmine Caine had plenty of reason to celebrate after learning that she had achieved 5A* 3A and 1B.  Other successful pupils at the school included Quefa Carter with 3A* 5A 1B, Nomtli Mujinga 1A* 4A 4B, Chloe Heslop 1A* 3A 4B, and Bradley Grayson with 1A* 4A 4B.

Over at St Peter’s RC High School, Gorton, it was a poignant results day for Headteacher John McNerney who retires next week from his job after 17 years at the school as its only headteacher since the school was first opened in 1999 as an amalgamation of three former RC high schools.

John McNerney said: “I’ve been coming into school every summer for the last 17 years to pick up GCSE results and it’s really nice to be able to come in for the last time and do this on a high and be able to celebrate a really good set of results with my students for one last time.  Our students have done really well and I’m very proud of all of them.”

Successful students at the school included Zain Waheed who achieved 7A*, 2A,1B, and Fasika Gebru who achieved 7A*, 2A, 2B.

At Whalley Range High School for Girls in south Manchester, one student, Amina Hameed was celebrating a clutch of A* and A grades, including a much coveted top grade A^ (A ‘hat’) in Further Maths.  Overall she achieved 10 A* grades and 1 A in addition to her outstanding result in Further Maths.

Also in south Manchester at Levenshulme High School for Girls, Alina Imran achieved 7A* 1A, and Sidra Hussain got 5A* and 3A, whilst classmate Nahrin Raza achieved 5A* and 4A grades.

Councillor Sheila Newman, Manchester City Council’s lead member for schools, said: “It’s great news that the number of pupils achieving A*-C in the basics of English and maths has gone up this year and this is a definite further step in the right direction for our schools.

“Today is really however all about our young people who have worked so hard for the last few years to achieve their grades and I congratulate all of them.

“Once again we’ve seen some outstanding results at individual schools across the city with plenty of high achievers who are a real credit to their school and their families.

“Results day isn’t of course just about the As and the A*s though. We shouldn’t forget those pupils who may not have achieved a clutch of A*s, but who have nevertheless come out with their own outstanding set of results, thanks to their hard work and determination, and sometimes after overcoming difficult issues or personal circumstances.

“Credit is also due to the teachers and other staff in our schools for their own hard work and dedication in ensuring pupils achieve their full potential.  Our young people couldn’t do this without them.

“Manchester is a world class city and we’re committed to working with our schools and doing everything we can to ensure the education our pupils get reflects this.”