A ST Bede’s pupil, Charlotte Killingley, is hoping a clean sweep of 12 A* GCSEs will propel her to become an opera star.

Charlotte, from Altrincham, says she is torn between wanting to sing at Covent Garden and become an eye surgeon.

Her A*s came in English, English Literature, Latin, Latin literature, physics, chemistry, biology, Spanish, religion, Maths, statistics and Music. In November she will take her grade eight examinations in piano and singing.

Charlotte said: “Carmen is my favourite opera and I would love to sing at Convent Garden but I’d also really like to do medicine as well. I have wanted to be an eye surgeon since I was seven because when I was growing up my mum had a problem with her eyes and I would go to her consultations with her. My ambition would be to do medicine at Cambridge with a choral scholarship.”

Another St Bede’s pupil, Grace Hamshire from Chorlton, has overcome severe dyslexia to achieve 10 A* and one A grade at GCSE.

Young Manchester City footballer, Sadou Diallo, who lives in Stretford, was celebrating a good result off the pitch with A-grade passes in English language, English literature and French. This was all the more remarkable since English is Sadou’s third language and he has only been speaking it since he was eight.

He came to England with his mum, Rougue, who took the family over from Guinea in west Africa. After spells in London and Rotherham, they went to Manchester when Sadou was signed by the City Academy. He now plays for England at Under-16 level.

Sadou said: “When I am at home I talk to my mum in Fula, which is one of the languages in west Africa and when I was living in Guinea I spoke French in school. The French is fading fast now because of all the work I have done in English at St Bede’s.

“We study in the morning and then train with City at the Etihad Campus in the afternoon. The only day off we have is Sunday. You get really tired by then but I can tell you it feels worthwhile right now.”

Another Manchester City footballer, striker, Lukas Nmecha, who is Sadou’s team-mate with England Under-16s, also scooped an A* but this time in German.