'Teachers learn how to get best out of girls'

A culture of high achievement at school helped Jane Cai prepare for her GCSEs.

The 16-year-old, who was expected to achieve 10 A*s on top of two As at AS-level, said: "The teachers are very supportive.

"They learn from previous years how to make best use of their resources and get the best results from pupils."

Jane is at Tiffin Girls' School in Kingston, London's top state school at GCSE level last year.

It has dropped the exam in some subjects for its brightest pupils in favour of two-year courses leading to AS-level, equivalent to the first half of an A-level.

"We have specialist courses which give extra help," Jane said.

"There is a difference in the way boys and girls learn so I think being at a single-sex school is beneficial because teachers can develop the best way for us to learn."

Jane sat AS-levels in music and maths. She took GCSEs in English literature, English language, dual science, French, German, geography and halfcourse IT.

She already has A*s in GCSE maths and Chinese.