OVERJOYED students celebrated A Level exam success which will take them on the road to university at schools along one of the main thoroughfares in Tower Hamlets.

Pupils at Bishop Challoner and Mulberry schools along Commercial Road picked up their exam results and rushed to phone family and friends as they found out whether all the hard work had paid off.

At Bishop Challoner 17-year-old Rajit Shail will be heading off to UCL to study medicine after getting four A grades.

“My parents are really proud,” he said. “All their encouragement and has paid off.”

Rajit managed to find time to play in his band Alpha N Omega and in the school cricket team when he was not studying.

His friend Mile End resident Souvik Ghoshal, 20, got an A and three Bs and will be studying aerospace engineering at Surrey University.

Nadia Mensah, 18, from Stepney took time out from her internship at Lloyds of London to collect her results – three As which will take her to Southampton University to study economics and finance.

She said: “I got a D in maths in year 12 when I was 16 so I’m really pleased with my A in maths now.”

Blessing Afulukwe, 19, from Stoke Newington, is one of the one in 12 students nationally to get an A * - in sociology. She had to get 90 per cent or more for each of her modules to get the grade. She also got two Bs and is off to study radiology in Hertfordshire in the autumn.

Stuart Robson, 18, from Stepney, will be off to City University to study maths and economics. He has already got two internships with insurance companies under his belt and his two Bs and a C at A level and B and A AS levels will help him get his first steps on the career ladder.

He also manages a local cricket team and works two days a week in a department store to help pay his way through college.

Over at Mulberry School for Girls head teacher Vanessa Ogden said: “Fifty per cent of our pupils have got A* and B grades. We’re really delighted for the girls, they have really worked hard.”

Brick Lane resident Mazeda Sultana will be fulfilling her dream to study medicine at King’s College with her two A*s and two A grades.

The 18-year-old said: “I was also involved in the press team at school and helped organise conferences at school.”

Shamilah Rahman, 18, from Stepney said: “I’m over the moon at my three A*s and my parents were very pleased.”

She is heading off to study children’s nursing at King’s College and has already made a start by acting as a reading mentor with children at Mulberry’s special unit.

Ruhana Begum, 18, meanwhile is fascinated by crime and is heading off to the London School of Economics to study policy and criminology thanks to her one A* and two a grades.

Ruhana, who lives in Stepney said: “I’ve always had a passion about crime and working with the police. I was predicted three Bs, which I got in my mocks so I decided to work really hard and did my 100 per cent best.”

Forida Islam from Goodmayes will be studying law at Queen Mary College. She said it had become very competitive to get places and was asked for three as, she excelled her offer with one A* and two As.

She said: “I got the A* in psychology, but I thought I had done badly in that one.”

Rayhab Mashal, 18, will study medicine at UCL and hopes to specialise in paediatrics.

She already does voluntary work with children, helping them to learn Arabic.

The Poplar student said: “I was not expecting my grades of two A*s and an A. I am shocked and my family are really proud of me.”