A University of Oxford-bound student has praised her ‘inspirational’ English teacher on A-level results day.

Jenna Colaco, who bagged three As in classical civilisation, English literature and history, will be reading Classics and English.

“My seven years at Our Lady’s has certainly gone quickly,” she said. “It seems so bizarre to actually be leaving school and leaving home.

“I’ve had the privilege of some wonderful teachers who inspired me greatly, especially my English teacher Mrs Detain. I’ve really loved studying Shakespeare and Chaucer as well as classical texts such as the Iliad and Aeneid, it helped reaffirm my choice of studying literature to degree level.”

The school picked out several other star performers including Diana Sufaj (A*,B and C in English Literature, Fine Art and History), Marie Tighe (A* and A for English Literature and Fine Art and a merit in health and social care) and Mandy Tan (two A*s and an A in biology, chemistry and maths), who will be studying medicine at UCL.

Mary Karayel received an A*, an A a B in English literature, geography and politics, and A* for her extended project in ‘How Disney changed the Grimm fairy tales’. She will be studying English at York University and wants to go into either publishing or journalism.

Angela Takyi bagged two As and two Bs in history, politics, sociology and extended project. She will be studying law at Brunel.