Four students at Iceni Academy struck a blow for the boys yesterday after they topped the school’s GCSE results table.

The school saw 67 per cent of its pupils gain five A* to C grades, with 47 per cent achieving five A* to C grades including English and Maths.

The latter score saw the school slip by just one per cent in a year where the national trend has been for schools’ results to slide.

But the success story of the day was the performances of Jacob Amacker, Fergus Eyres, Murray Burt and James Yates, who banked the school’s top results.

All four of the 16-year-olds came to the school from Mundford Primary School.

Mr Amacker said he was going to Wymondham College to study A-levels after he gained eight A* and an A: “I studied hard and revised quite a lot. The teachers were a lot of help.”

Staff at Thetford Academy were pleased with its results after its results improved, despite the school being in special measures.

It saw 40 per cent of students gain five A* to C grades including English and Maths, up two per cent on last year. The result meant the school achieved the Department for Education’s minimum requirement for GCSE results.

It also saw 68 per cent of its students achieve five A* to C grades overall, a 13 per cent increase on last year.

Principal Cathy Spillane said: “This is a positive day for the academy.”

Mildenhall Academy increased the number of students gaining five A* to Cs by 11 per cent to 45 per cent.

Its number of students gaining five A* to C grades overall was 86 per cent.

Susan Byles, principal, said she was “delighted” with the results.

Students at Thetford Grammar School achieved highly again, with 96 per cent gaining five A* to C grades and 91 per cent gaining five A* to C grades with English and Maths included.