TEENAGERS across Hampshire were jumping for joy as the wait for their GCSE results finally came to an end.

Friends screamed, hugged, congratulated and commiserated with each other as they discovered their grades yesterday.

Across Southampton the numbers of pupils gaining the benchmark of five or more GCSE grades A* to C rose by one per cent to 46 per cent - an all time record.

Teenagers at Bitterne Park School improved for the third year running with 59 per cent of pupils gaining five or more top grades.

At Woodlands Community School in Harefield, where boys usually perform better than girls, results showed that this year girls came out tops.

Redbridge Community School pupils also consolidated last year's big rise in top grade passes with 46 per cent this year getting five or more.

They were celebrating the best set of GCSE results in the history of Crestwood Community School in Eastleigh.

Pupils posted a 53 per cent rate of gaining five or more grades A* to C - a five per cent improvement on last year.

It was also celebration time at high-flying Thornden School, Chandler's Ford, where pupils produced another dazzling array of results.

Boys and girls chalked up an A* to C pass rate of 89 per cent - one per cent higher than last year.

There was also much joy on another Chandler's Ford campus where Toynbee School increased its overall pass rate.

Results showed a 64 per cent pass rate in A* to Cs - an improvement of five per cent on last year. The school's top 15 students recorded 121 A*s between them.

Staff at Hounsdown School in Totton were delighted with the performance of this year's leavers - who have helped maintain a 70 per cent A* to C pass rate held for the past four years.

Among prize pupils was Ed Hardy whose biology paper scored one of the top five marks out of 8,604 candidates up and down the country. He won nine A*s and three As.

Pupils and staff at Priestlands School in Lymington also had reason tocelebrate with 64 per cent of students gaining five or more A* to C grades.

At Noadswood School in Dibden Purlieu more than 60 per cent of students obtained five or more passes at grades A* to C.

Pupils at Applemore College in Dibden Purlieu suffered a drop in the school's overall pass rate, scoring 40 per cent compared to last year's 50 per cent.

Headteacher Frank Callaghan said: "We're disappointed with that. The top candidates who were predicted high grades all did extremely well but the candidates in the middle who normally convert Ds to Cs didn't do as well as they normally do."

At The Henry Beaufort School in Harestock, best friends Emily Barrow and Rebecca Massey-Chase were named as the top two candidates in humanities by exam board AQA from more than 100,000 entries.

They will both receive a medal and diploma at a special awards ceremony in London in honour of their outstanding achievement.

Kings' School in Stanmore, reported 82 per cent of grades at A*-C which constitutes a three per cent improvement on last year and a record-breaking result.

The Westgate School in Fulflood reported 75 per cent which represents a slight increase from last year's figures of 73 per cent.

Test Valley School in Stockbridge achieved 74 per cent, another improvement on last year.

Perins School in Alresford was the only school to report a drop on last year but their fantastic form was always going to be very hard to beat. About 74 per cent got grades A*-C this year compared to 84 per cent in 2003.

At Brookfield Community School in Sarisbury Green results revealed that 70.3 per cent of students had achieved A* to Cs in five or more subjects - a record year for the school.