Kingston Grammar School (KSG) announced it has outperformed the national benchmark OF 2019 for this year's results.

As the Government and Ofqual decided this year A Level and GCSE examinations would return to pre-pandemic levels of 2019, just under 30% of all grades awarded were A*, with 66% of grades at A*-A and 89.2% A*-B.

Head Master Stephen Lehec said: "With the national media narrative being one of reduced top grades and potentially disappointed students, I am thrilled that this hardworking and committed cohort of students at KGS have fulfilled their potential with this excellent set of results."

The independent school saw the success of five students who achieved an outstanding four A*s: Alistair Anthony, Henry Hill, Martha le Huray, Catherine Monaghan, Chloris Wong and Laura Ziehms.

This is followed by a further 12 students with a very impressive three A*s each, including twins Maddie and Millie Good who have secured places to read Criminology and Criminology & Sociology respectively. No need for any puns about the mood in that household today!

While the discussion nationally may be focused on the reduced number of top grades, there is a particular focus at KGS on the opportunities many of the students are about to embark upon.

Eloise Cross will take up her place to read History & French at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, alongside Leon Feltham who goes to study Natural Sciences at Homerton. Katie Monaghan will learn Natural Sciences at Gonville & Caius, with Chloris Wong studying Engineering at Churchill College. Taking up places at Oxford University are Alistair Anthony who will be reading Classics at St Anne's, and Caitlin Oxborrow reading Law at Somerville.

With application numbers for medic-related courses higher than ever, the school said it is delighted that Edward Phillips and Amelie Scott have been accepted to read Medicine, and Rohan Korpal to read Dentistry. In addition, Jaewoo Park and Heertthana Peterarulthas will study Medicine, with Alice Lodge studying Physiotherapy, following applications made during their gap year.

KGS said it was "particularly pleased by the broad range of interests" shown by students in their diverse range of chosen degree courses. These include many courses in the creative arts. For example, Fin James will be studying Theatre & Performance at the renowned Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, Luis Knowles will be attending the highly prestigious Music & Sound Recording (Tonmeister) degree course at Surrey, Casper Cook has gained a place to study Fashion Imaging & Illustration at University of the Arts London and Toby Ison will be studying Technical Theatre at Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Xian Leonard will be reading Global Sustainable Development at Sheffield, and both Alexi Cross and Jackson Ginn are going on to study Aerospace Engineering at Manchester.

Notably, the competitive school said it was celebrating the growing number of students studying overseas including Melker Lannero who will be at the Stockholm School of Economics from next year, Jasmine Levell who is going on to study at the Bocconi University in Milan, and Riya Nathan who will be going even further afield having gained a place at UC Santa Barbara. Joining her in the USA are rowers Lola Crampin and Matilda Drewett who will be taking up full rowing scholarships at Berkeley and Stanford respectively, Matilda having recently been crowned as an U19 Rowing World Champion on top of her academic achievements.

"We know that our alumni, our 'Old Kingstonians', go on to make a genuine and very positive difference to the world. We look forward to following their journeys and sharing in their success stories in the future. We are exceptionally proud of them all," added Headmaster Lehec.