RECORD-BREAKING students went to the top of the class today as East Lancashire teenagers celebrated their A-level results.

In Burnley David Clayton, headteacher at Habergham High School, said: "In the great national A-level competition we have done very well for the town."

They had had "brilliant" A-level results at the Habergham Sixth Form --"in many respects the best so far," he added.

There was a 98 per cent overall pass rate, and 13 students gained three or more A grades each, some with four and five A grades.

Forty-eight per cent of all grades at Habergham were at high A and B level.

"That's a super way to guarantee university places and exciting careers," Mr Clayton said.

In Blackburn, Michael Finley, principal of St Mary's College, where all seven students who had been offered conditional places at Oxford and Cambridge achieved the top grades they needed, said this morning: "More than 300 students took A-levels at St Mary's and achieved a 93 per cent pass rate.

"This is a fantastic achievement for our truly comprehensive intake."

Thirteen students had achieved three or more grade As, he added. Lillian Croston, principal at Westholme School, Blackburn, said: "We've had outstanding results this year -- even better than last year."

The overall pass rate was 98 per cent, with more than two-thirds of all grades at A or B.

At A-S, the overall pass rate at the school was 96 per cent.

Full results and pictues in tomorrow's Lancashre Evening Telegraph...