There were hugs and tears of joy - and sadness today.
Pupils from Manningtree High School - including Alicia Harvey and Anna Hyman, right - were among hundreds from across Tendring and Colchester opening their GCSE exam results.
For GCSE pupils at Clacton's Bishop Park College it was their first time - and possibly the last for the closure-threatened college.
Tendring Technology College achieved its best results ever with 67 per cent of the students gaining A* to C grades and 97 per cent achieving five or more passes.
Clacton County High School pupils smashed the school record with 53 per cent passing with five or more A* to C grades and at Colbayns High Schoo 31 per cent passed at that level - six per cent up on predictions.
Ten youngsters at Colchester's Philip Morant scored straight As as the school notched up higher pass rates for the third year running.
Six pupils at Colchester Royal Grammar School secured maximum points with 11 A*s.
- Full round-up - see tomorrow's Gazette
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