Oxford and Cambridge might be a far cry from east London, a group of the borough’s brightest sixth form students are hoping to take up places at the prestigious universities in September.

The London Academy of Excellence (LAE) has seen a record-breaking 20 students offered places at Oxbridge colleges.

Headteacher John Weeks praised his students, saying: “Our Sixth Formers set extremely high targets for themselves and the progress we help them make will, in turn, help them secure the grades they need for their conditional offers.”

Former Langdon Academy student Shiza Naqvi is hoping to head to Newnham College, Cambridge, to study mathematics.

She said: “At school you hear lots of ‘ghost stories’ about how hard it is to get into Oxford or Cambridge.

“You hear about how someone got 50 A*s and still got rejected.

“Obviously, I now know that’s not true and all the preparation I have put in and the extra hard maths problems my teacher set me have paid off.”

Meanwhile, nine students at Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre (NCS) have received Oxbridge offers.

These include aspiring lawyer Abdul Musaddik, who has secured an offer to read law at St John’s College, Oxford.

He said: “The offer from Oxford came as a huge shock, and before I came to the NCS I didn’t even think it was possible. I hope I can meet Oxford’s entry requirements and study law at one of the best universities in the world.”

Principal Mouhssin Ismail said: “To secure nine Oxbridge offers in only our second A level year is a fantastic achievement and one that we all take great pride in.”