A student who combined his A Levels with duties as a deputy head boy, including organising the end of term ball, achieved the highest number of top passes at Ripon Grammar School.
Will Stobbs’s five A*s and an A grade saw him lead a host of successes at the school, including Ross Sullivan, who gained five A*s to secure a place at Cambridge University.
Will, of Bishop Thornton, will now join fellow Ripon Grammar School pupil Ben Wayne at Durham University to read natural sciences, and Ross will read the same subject at Cambridge.
Will, 18, achieved his A*s in maths, further maths, geography, chemistry and the extended project qualification, with the A coming in general studies.
He said: “I was very nervous on the morning of results and didn’t want to look on UCAS Track but all the other school officers had so I thought I’d better. I did much better than I was expecting so I’m really happy.”
Will, who also has a part-time job at the Sawley Arms and may choose to follow a career as an actuary, revealed his systematic approach to revision.
“I did work every night., writing a lot of my own notes then printing off more and cross-referencing and highlighting. I had lots of document folders on the go but it worked for me.
“Although being a deputy head boy involved duties at school it wasn’t directly related to my subjects. It was a nice way to switch off and do something completely different like ordering balloons for the ball. I just like to be busy.”
Ross, who was born in Kildare, in Ireland, and joined Ripon Grammar School in the sixth form, said: “I have always wanted to go to a top university and after going on a school trip to Oxford and Cambridge I absolutely loved it. Cambridge is a gorgeous place, it’s s small city university and the education and research is second to none.
“I made it my ambition to go there and didn’t want to go anywhere else. I was terrified about my results and didn’t sleep at all the night before, so I’m over the moon with my results.”
Ross, 18, of Beningborough, achieved his clean sweep of A*s in maths, further maths, physics, chemistry and the extended project qualification and is currently thinking of specialising in physics.