IT is official – Huntingdonshire has some of the country s brightest students. Both St Ivo School and Sawtry Community College are celebrating after pupils were placed in the top 10 for their subjects at AS level. At St Ivo, Christian Roberts has been nam

IT is official - Huntingdonshire has some of the country's brightest students.

Both St Ivo School and Sawtry Community College are celebrating after pupils were placed in the top 10 for their subjects at AS level.

At St Ivo, Christian Roberts has been named by examiner Edexcel as a top UK geography student and his classmate Joel Hipple was in the top 10 for travel and tourism. Christian and Joel sat their GCSE exams this summer.

Christian, 17, of Needingworth, said: "I was really surprised to be in the top 10. I got full marks in my coursework but so many people work really hard that I didn't think I would stand out.

"I want to study geography at university, but I haven't decided where I want to go yet."

Joel, also 17, of St Ives, said: "I was very happy when I heard I was in the top 10. I'm now studying travel and tourism as an A Level and I think I will study it, or business, at university."

Jenny Mottram, head of both the geography and travel and tourism departments, said: "We are absolutely thrilled for both Christian and Joel. It is the first time we have had a student in the top 10, so to have two at once is fantastic. It is a real testament to the students' hard work."

Meanwhile, Sawtry Community College student Victoria Hinton stood out in her GCSE fine art examinations, being placed in the top 10 of 6,535 candidates.

Victoria impressed teachers and governors with her work for a new Extended Project qualification for which students plan, research and write a dissertation on a subject of their choice.

Her 5,000 word report and presentation on "Is Fashion Art?" earned Victoria an outstanding A grade. Victoria also achieved A grades in history and English literature, and a B in French.

Kevin Terry, head of art at Sawtry Community College, said: "Victoria is a very hard working and dedicated student with tremendous technical skills in art and has produced some beautiful work.

"She achieved 100 per cent in both her exam and coursework. In fact, her coursework was over and above the requirement of the course at this level. I hope she carries on and repeats this achievement this year for her A2 Fine Art course."

Jerry Jarvis, Edexcel's managing director, said: "This is a tremendous achievement and testament to the hard work the students have put into preparing for their exams. We send our congratulations to Christian, Joel and Victoria.