At Cantell School in Bassett smiles could be seen across the sports hall.

Obaida Rahmoune, 16, from Bassett achieved nine 9s, one 8, one 7 and a distinction star.

He said: “It feels amazing, and it really was not expected. I felt so much stress before my exam, but in the end it all paid off. 

"Listening and staying focused in class and a few hours revising every night was hard but I'm so glad it paid off. 

"I’d like to say a huge thank you to my mum who pushed me to revise and even helped me learn Arabic.

"I forgot all about my results over the summer and just made sure I had fun after my hard work, so this is really a great end to the summer."

Samuel Dockree, 16, from Swaythling, bagged an incredible set of straight grade 9s in his GCSEs and said he was overjoyed by the unexpected result.  

He would like to pursue a career in international relations and diplomacy. 

He said: "I revised a couple of hours every night across my different subjects.

"I also spent a lot of my revision time breaking down the exam papers and understanding what each question was really asking - that is a big tip I would pass on to the next year group.

"I'm heading off to Barton Peveril College next year to study physics, maths and politics.

"I want to say a massive thanks to my parents and all my teachers - the teachers here are amazing and so supportive."

GCSE results from schools across Southampton

Sophie Mills, 16, from Highfield, said that her five years' hard work had come down to today.

She managed to pull off four 9s and five 8s in her exams.

"I felt a lot of pressure but I did also put a lot of pressure on myself. I pulled off a lot of all-nighters revising.

"I would like to say a huge thank you to my mum - she always pushed me to achieve my best."

Carys Settines, 16, from Shirley, came away with an impressive four 9s, two 8s, a 6 and a 5.

“I’m so pleased with this. I will now be able to go and study physics, chemistry and maths at college. 

"Every night I would write pages and pages of revision and so I could not be happier with these results.

"Sometimes I went a little overkill with my revision, but I hold myself to high standards and I'm really happy with my grades."

Vishaan Vohra, 16, from Bassett worked tirelessly throughout the year to achieve an outstanding seven 9s, three 8s and one 7. 

He said: "I was up at 6am revising before school, and then did more revision hours every night after school. It drained me a lot and did not make me feel good at the time but looking back, it got the job done. 

"I felt so much pressure - but I was able to use that as fuel to keep focused and keep to my revision plan.

"The pandemic did affect our school experience, however it was up to us to make up for lost learning time."

GCSE results day - Pictures from Bitterne Park, St George, Gregg, Wyvern and Hamble

Upper Shirley High School is also celebrating a successful results day.

Rhys Weaver, 16, from Rownhams, proudly achieved four 7s, one 6 and three 5s.

He said: "These grades are massively important to me so I can go on to study maths, geography and politics at Peter Symonds College.

"Thanks to the pandemic, at the start of our GCSEs we did have to revise hard to make sure we crammed in all the topics that could be in the exam - but we managed all the same."

After leaving college, Rhys has future ambitions of working within the aviation industry.

Miles Cockburn, 16, from Shirley, managed pull off one 9, five 8s, four 7s and a 6 in his exams. 

He said: “It’s so surreal - I cant believe it, five years of hard work, and it all comes down to this envelope. 

"I’d love to say a massive thank you to all the teachers help me out along the way.”

Shivani Mehta, 16, from Shirley, smashed her exams, with three 9s, two 8s and three 7s. 

She added: “I can’t wait to go off and study psychology - I think that’s where I’d love to have a future career and these grades have made that possible. 

"We also started our GCSEs in year nine during the pandemic which was a little bit scary as we had a lot of time away from school, but I didn’t let that stop me."

Shivani wanted to say a huge thank you to her English and drama teachers who supported her throughout her GCSE journey. 

Evan Howells, 16, from Shirley, achieved a whopping nine 9s and two 8s. He said: "This was massively above what I expected and so I'm really pleased with this.

"My one best tip for the next group of Year 11s taking their exams is to revise early. Start now and you won't regret it."

Roza Saroyan, from Georgia, is excited about a possible future career as a lawyer. 

She achieved an 8, three 7s, two 6s and two 5s in her exams.

She said: “I quit the gym and gave up a lot of my social time to revise hard. Most nights I was only getting four hours sleep. 

"In my mocks, my grades were quite low on so I’m so proud of these.

"I also did a lot of reading and going on walks so that I could switch off after revision."

Ella Hubbard, from Bassett, worked hard to get three 9s, three 8s, two 7s and two 6s. Ella will be studying science at Barton Pevril College. 

She added: “I’m really excited to be studying science at college, so to get such high grades in science is a real win for me.

"I felt so worried after my exams so to know now that I did really well is a real relief."