TRIPLETS, twins and sportsmen and women were the top achievers this year as record numbers gained the A-level grades they needed to reach university.

More than 267,000 students had their places confirmed by yesterday morning, according to the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, 7.2 per cent more than last year.

Lil, Helen and Kate Armstrong from Truro were among the first to hear that they were among that record quarter of a million, when they all achieved three A grades to claim their places at Cambridge.

Daughters of a biomedical scientist and a nursery assistant, the three 18-year-olds made history by becoming the first triplets to study law, medicine and natural sciences at the university.

“I am really excited about going to Cambridge and also a little nervous — but at least my sisters will be there for support,” said Lil, who will study medicine at Selwyn College. She hopes to become a paediatrician.

Maths was the most popular subject among the twins who achieved top grades. They included Yan-Yi and Yan-Ling Li, 19, who came to England two years ago from Hong Kong.

Yesterday the pair — who are both grade 8 pianists — were celebrating a clutch of 11 A grades between them in chemistry, Chinese, maths, further maths, music and physics, which secured them places at Warwick University and King’s College.

“I did find it difficult because I did not speak much English,” Yan-Ling said, “but I was fortunate that I chose subjects that did not demand exceptional English language skills.” Yan-Yi was one of four girls from Colchester County High School to earn six A grades. A further 15, including Yan-Ling, gained five A grades and 19 achieved four.

Mahdi and Hadi Godazgar, originally from Iran, also achieved 11 A grades in maths and science subjects yesterday, having arrived in England ten years ago, speaking no English at all. They will be furthering their studies in York. Another set of twins, Robert and Matthew English from Preston, were celebrating after gaining four A grades each in maths and the sciences. They will both be studying engineering at Cambridge.

However, while the twins excelled in maths, the prime candidate for the title of Britain’s brainiest student is a classicist. William Wheeler, who was the country’s top GCSE student with 16 A*s two years ago, appeared to have held on to his crown at A level with eight top grades in Latin, Greek, history, English, maths and general studies.

He is off to read classics at Magdalen College, Oxford in October.

The 18-year-old, whose ambitions are either to become a lock-keeper on the Thames or to work for the UN, was modest about his grades. While judging the A-level critics as a bit “harsh”, he conceded that today’s questions were probably not as hard as they used to be. “I’ve seen A-level papers from 20 years ago and they seem to be much harder,” he said. “They seem to have much tougher questions requiring more independent thought.” Asked whether candidates were now spoonfed answers, he replied: “Not quite spoonfed, but guided certainly, or helped along.”

Adam Buckland, from St Albans, Hertfordshire, was not so concerned about levels of achievement before he was born, however, as he celebrated becoming the youngest person in 2004 to pass an A level.

After a year’s part-time study at Ryde tutorial college two evenings a week and weekends, he gained a C in computing and announced that his dream job would be to work for a computer games manufacturer.

Three years ago, Azim Ansari, 17, could not speak a word of English. Having fled Afghanistan with his family, he travelled hidden in trucks and lorries to reach England, where they were granted a year’s asylum and settled in Bristol. Yesterday his hard work at the City of Bristol College paid off as he celebrated gaining As in maths and physics and a B in chemistry. Despite fulfilling the requirements for a place at St John’s College, Oxford, his delight was tempered by the knowledge that the Home Office has refused to extend his temporary visa: “I want to stay here and finish my education, that is my dream. It would feel like a waste if I had to go back to Afghanistan and had to stop learning.”

Ian Hollett, a former kickboxing champion, who dropped out of school at 16 to work in a supermarket and devote himself to sport, was perhaps one of the most remarkable success stories.

In 2002 he won a gold medal at the World Kickboxing Association world championships, before returning to education at a sixth-form college in Liverpool, where he got four As in English, law, PE and history. Yesterday he learnt that he had got into Oxford to study modern history: “I got the job at the supermarket just to make ends meet, but I always intended to return to education. It just took a bit longer than expected.”

Mackenzie Howe, 18, from Cardiff who swims for Wales and the UK was equally successful in gaining three A grades in French, economics and English, just days before setting off for the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. The Welsh record holder for the 200m medley admits it was a busy couple of years: “I was training in the morning, driving to school for lectures and then back to the pool in the evening.”

Patrick Niknejad, an actor in the first Harry Potter film and the ITV children’s show My Parents are Aliens, was one of the few who appeared to have been turned down from his first choice of university in spite of gaining six A grades at A level. Rejected by Oxford to study maths, he is now heading to Warwick. Yesterday — his birthday — was a day to celebrate with friends, however. “The plan is to go on a pub crawl around the Circle Line, with a drink at every stop. There are 28 stops so we are being advised to drink halves.”

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