“Studying engineering at Imperial has been my dream since I was in Year 9”: A hard-working 18-year-old who went from the bottom to the top of his maths class at The Campion School has secured a place at one of the country’s top universities.

Alan Mathews, from Romford, was ectatic after finding out he had achieved two A*’s and two A’s which meant he could study mechanical engineering at Imperial in September.

He said: “I couldn’t have asked for more, it has all worked out perfectly. I am so happy with my results after getting into my perfect university.

“It has been a great two years and I don’t think I could have come to a better school. I went from being the thirtieth in my maths class in year 7 to one of the top three. The time has gone so fast, I can’t believe it’s two years since I was collecting my GCSEs.”

He added: “Studying chemistry was definitely my hardest challenge but I managed to get an A.”