SIMPLY THE BEST: Morpeth's fab four.

Morpeth students among the best in the country

FOUR Morpeth KEVI students arrived at school on Thursday to hear the jaw-dropping news that they had earned one of the top five marks in the entire country for their subject.

Verity Douglas was in the top five out of a staggering 361,913 students for English Literature. Meanwhile, Matthew Laws, Ged Manning and Andrew Barber had a surge of success in Electronics, beating off competition from 12,150 other students for a place in the top five.

All four fared excellently in their other subjects, achieving As or A-stars in every single exam.

Verity, of Morpeth said: "I was really surprised. It's difficult to gauge how well you've done in English Literature because it's an Arts subject and there are no right or wrong answers. I was delighted with the rest of my marks as well."

Ged, who lives in Morpeth, said: "I started doing electronics at my old school in Manchester and continued when I moved to Morpeth. "I'm really pleased with all my results and this was an extra bit of good news on a very happy day."

Felton lad Matthew also came in the top five for electronics. "It's one of my favourite subjects," he said. "But you can't take it for A-level at KEVI, so instead I'm taking Maths, Chemistry, Physics and Further Maths."

Finally, Andrew, of Snitter, near Rothbury, also had cause for celebration. "I put a lot of hard work into my revision, and the coursework," he said. "But my jaw dropped when I opened my results. I do like electronics, but I'm not one of those people who takes everything to bits to see how it works. I'm not sure I'd be able to put them back together again!"

Reports by RUTH HOLLIDAY - Pictures by GEMMA MARRINER