STAR pupils at a Marlow school took their titles literally as three top academic minds walked away with perfect grades in their GCSE exams.

Students Sakshi Soni, Tom Brockwell and Olivia Seifert received A* grades across the board, and were among 35 pupils at the West Street academy to get straight A marks or better.

16-year old Tom from Cookham said the opening of his envelope could not come soon enough, with a nervous couple of months' wait as his initial positivity was tested.

He said: “I am obviously very happy, I did better than I expected. I thought coming out of the exams that I’d done well but afterwards the longer it goes on the more doubts start to creep in.

“But I think it is natural to worry. I kept myself busy and my summer packed full of stuff to take my mind off it.

“I’ve really liked my time at the school up until now so hopefully the sixth form will be just as good.”

The only reason Tom opened an envelope containing nine A* grades and not ten, was that the high-achiever had sat his maths exam the year before – also taking an A* in that paper.

Speaking before embarking on a celebratory cycling holiday in Italy, the sporty youngster revealed that although he had worked hard, the secret of his success was good organisation.

He said: “I didn’t do more work than others, but I studied hard and started early.

“Making my notes early meant that by the time it came to revision time I still has time to go out and play tennis and relax a bit.”