Top-scoring twins are delighted by their identical exam results

Two sets of twins celebrated a double success in their GCSEs today as they joined thousands of London pupils receiving their exams results.

Identical twins Hannah and Olivia Singh and Emily and Fiona Walport picked up 24 A* grades between them.

"I'm so happy," said Hannah, 16. Olivia, who also attends Putney High School, said: "It's weird but we usually do get exactly the same marks."

The pair, from Southfields, achieved seven A* and three A grades each. "We work separately," said Olivia. "I write my notes, she reads, and for different subjects we do different things."

Both girls will stay on at the independent girls' school for A-levels.

The school's other pair of identical twins, Emily and Fiona Walport, achieved 10 A* grades between them although the talented musicians were unable to pick up their results in person as they were on an orchestral tour.

One of the youngest pupils to sit a GCSE this year achieved a D grade in maths today. Jude Alli, six, goes to Victory Primary School, a state school in Elephant and Castle. He said he finds maths "easy".

Xavier Gordon-Brown, of Haywards Heath, achieved an A* in GCSE maths after taking the exam while still aged eight. "I think I've done well," he said. Now nine, he is learning the clarinet, violin and piano, has memorised Pi to 2,000 decimal places, and has started working towards maths A-level.

His parents Erica and Michael sent Xavier to Ryde Teaching Services in Hertfordshire after primary school teachers said they could not cope with his mathematical abilities.