THE head teacher of Axe Valley Community College has said A level students who once again received bumper results last Thursday are well placed - in spite of tough conditions in the job market and fewer university places.

THE head teacher of Axe Valley Community College has said A level students who once again received bumper results last Thursday are 'well placed' - in spite of tough conditions in the job market and fewer university places.

The upbeat message from Martin Smith follows flawless results by Year 13 students who achieved a 100 per cent pass rate, up from 98 per cent pass in 2008.

An impressive crop of results saw 46 per cent of students achieving at least three A-C grades, marginally down on the 50 per cent last year.

Among the highest performers based on points scores were Jenni Collins, Perry Edward and Oliver Smith.

And Year 12 As results - a qualification that can also be accepted as the first year of an A level - also showed an improvement with more students, on average, achieving higher grades.

However this year education ministers have capped university places in England in a bid to cut costs, despite a 10 per cent increase in applications.

The increase has in part been fuelled by fewer training places and jobs available because of the recession and leaves a potential short fall of 60,000 university places across the country.

Martin Smith said the results were 'broadly in line' with previous years and said: "Congratulations to all our students on these results. They have worked extremely hard to achieve these grades.

"I am delighted to see so many students exceed their targets."

He thanked staff for their hard work: "Our students deserve extra praise because for three months of the year the Sixth Form Centre was being refurbished and they had to make do with temporary study facilities."

The aim, he said, was to continue to raise standards - a goal that would be helped by 'significant' improvements' made to the Sixth Form Centre: "Our ambition is to achieve outstanding results in the next three years."

He remained positive despite forecasts that up to seven applicants could be vying every available left-over place in the 'clearing' system.

"It is a difficult time for young people entering further education or employment training," he admitted.

"We work closely with Connexions (the quango set up to help 13-19 year-olds) and we have a strong network to support our students.

"But despite the conditions we feel our students are well placed to meet the challenges ahead."

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