AFTER a string of successful GCSE results, star students Sophie Kershaw and Zara Benyounes are celebrating again.

The girls, who both attend Bury Grammar School already knew they had each managed nine A star grades when the results were announced last month.

But it was a few weeks before the 16-year-olds found out just how well they had done.

Violinist Zara, of Lingfield Close, Bury, was told that she had finished in the top five candidates across the country studying music with

her exam board.

And Sophie, of The Coppice, Holcombe Brook, achieved the same distinction in two subjects, geography and chemistry.

Sophie said: "I was absolutely stunned when I heard about it and couldn't speak for half an hour because I was so shocked."