'Unbelievably proud' Nerves, then joy, at UK's oldest sixth-form college

When Yasser Imlahi Iallouchen arrived to collect his BTec results yesterday morning, he said he was so nervous he could barely breathe.

- Mabel Banfield-Nwachi

"I felt like I was going to cry, vomit, collapse. I was just so worried and scared because it's something that will affect my future," he said.

Imlahi Iallouchen needed a triple distinction in his BTec in biomedical science - the equivalent of three A grades at A-level - to get into Queen Mary University of London, where he hoped to study.

"I was scared, shaking. I didn't know what to do... but once I opened it and I saw what I was expecting, I was happy. I felt a huge sense of relief." In September, he will begin his course in marketing and management with one year in industry.

Imlahi Iallouchen was one of more than 1,200 students at Luton sixth-form college (LSC) collecting their A-level and BTec results, and one of thousands across the country celebrating top grades.

At LSC, the oldest in the country, about 60% of the students do a combination of A-levels and BTecs.