IT’S CRUNCH time for students across Hampshire today as they discover whether years of studying have paid off.

Nervous teenagers will be logging on or returning to their colleges and sixth forms today to receive their A-level results.

While some will be celebrating achieving their predicted grades others will have an anxious wait to discover whether they will be able to secure a place at university through the scramble of the clearing process, or consider a different path altogether.

Celebrations look set to break out at institutions across the county as the envelopes were being ripped open with colleges and schools reporting broadly the same high achieving results.

It will be the first time students can celebrate A Level success at Bitterne Park School as teenagers complete their education at the newly formed sixth form.

Itchen College students surpassed their predecessors by achieving a 97.4 per cent pass rate at A* to E. Initial figures showed results were also up in AS exams although data was last night still being compiled.

The Richard Taunton Sixth Form College was also celebrating success by topping the previous year group’s success by 0.1 of a percentage point taking the pass mark 98.1 Students on the outskirts of the city at Totton College were also raising a cheer after surpassing last year’s results by a whole percentage point to 98.3.

Principal Mike Gaston said: “We are delighted with the brilliant results that our students have achieved this year. This is also a clear sign of the result of continued efforts by staff to focus on inspirational targets as the college continues to develop a positive reputation for supporting all students to succeed.”

Students at the independent King Edward VI School in Southampton once again produced outstanding results. Within a perfect 100 per cent pass rate at A* to E, 85 per cent of students passed at A*, A or B.

Head Master, Julian Thould, said: “Congratulations go to all of those who leave King Edward’s after such well-deserved success.”

Hampshire Collegiate School is celebrating another year of A-Level success with an overall pass rate of 94 per cent, and of those 73 per cent of students secured A*to C grades. Brockenhurst College students maintained their 99 per cent pass rate for another year.

Peter Symonds College in Winchester again posted impressive results with a 99 per cent pass rate while Students at Barton Peveril college in Eastleigh secured a 98.3 per cent pass rate, matching last year’s result.

Principal Jonathan Prest said: “We are delighted to be celebrating an impressive set of results which show Barton Peveril’s excellent A-level pass rate maintained for a fifth successive year and a significant increase in the percentage of students achieving high grades.

Spaces are still up for grabs at almost every course at Southampton Solent University where staff are manning phones around the clock, while the University of Southampton also have spaces available for high achieving students.