There were mixed emotions at High Wycombe's Royal Grammar School last Thursday morning as hundreds of students collected their A-Level results just days after a fellow pupil died.

Earlier this month the Bucks Free Press reported that 17-year-old Matthew Hitchman died after he fell from a white water raft while on a school trip in Ecuador.

Tributes poured in for the sixth-former who was due to collect his AS-Level results on Thursday, as thousands of students across the county opened their envelopes and found out if they secured their place at their first choice university.

An “outstanding” set of results were achieved at RGS, in Amersham Hill, according to headmaster Philip Wayne, as 74 per cent of pupils achieved A* to B grades.

Forty eight per cent of pupils got A* and A grades, while the overall pass rate was “just short” of one 100 per cent.

A total of 17 students achieved three A*s or more and at least 16 pupils secured their place at either Oxford or Cambridge.

Mr Wayne said: “This pleasing set of results is a testament to the hard work of out pupils, the encouraging support of their families and our staff.

“I am delighted that work we are doing now has led to a very pleasing upward trajectory in our A level results.

“The school takes great pride in a Sixth Form ethos of independent learning, where pupils are encouraged to study beyond the syllabus to develop a strong subject knowledge from which to call upon.

“I have no doubt that the personal success of our pupils today will carry them forward into successful futures.”