An exceptional year of achievement at Brockenhurst College was celebrated at its annual awards evening.

Staff, students and parents met in the college hall for the presentation of exam certificates and to discuss the college year, when:

* The college won accredited status as one of the best institutions of its kind in the South.

* An inspection team judged Brockenhurst College "outstanding or good" in all areas.

* The college won the Investors in Careers standard for helping students on to the next rung of the ladder.

* The A-level pass rate was 91 per cent - 2.5 per cent above the national rate.

* Twenty five students achieved three or more A grades at A level.

* The average GNVQ point score per student was 12.9 - the highest of any college in Hampshire.

* Seventy-five per cent of Brocken-hurst's GNVQ diploma students achieved Distinction or Merit.

* And last but not least . . . Brockenhurst College claimed the oldest learner in the country.

Fred Moore, aged 108, studies at the Education and Training Centre at New Milton, which is linked to Brockenhurst.

Principal Mike Snell congratulated all the students and praised his staff.

He said: "They are a quite exceptional body of professionals, who make an essential contribution to student success."

He added that the college was looking forward to several projects coming to fruition in the next two years.

They included the building of a two-storey student facility, a 50 per cent size increase for the Learning Resources Centre, and an extension to the Performing Arts department.