IT was a daunting experience for most teenagers yesterday as they opened the envelope containing their GCSE results, but one 16-year-old will have to do it all again next month.

Harriet Rykens, of Kirklington, near Bedale, was delighted when she discovered she had passed her GCSEs with grades A* to B yesterday, and celebrated in style at York Races with friends.

However, the youngster is one of 30 stars in Channel 4's That'll Teach 'Em, which put a group of 16-year-olds through the tough regime of a 1950s state grammar boarding school and the academic rigour of O-levels.

She must now wait until September 2 to find out how her O-level marks in Maths, English Literature and History compare to her ten GCSEs from Queen Margaret's independent school, at Escrick Park, near York.

She said: "The worst is over now I have my GCSE results, but I'm still nervous about the O-levels. I want to have done well to try and prove that they are easier than the GCSEs. It is quite difficult to compare the two because much of the syllabus was different and the teaching was very intense on the show."

In the series, the pupils are boarders at the fictional King's School, and live under a strict regime.

Harriet said it was hard going, with spam fritters, school uniforms and strict classes. Girls were ordered to cut their nails short, remove all make-up and tie their hair back.