A TEENAGER who got straight A*s in her GCSEs is using her impressive grades to follow in her sister's footsteps and become a doctor.

Woodford County High School student Tahreem Mahmud was “too scared” to open her GCSE results when she went to pick them up today (August 24).

But she need not have worried, as they turned out to be A*s across the board.

The Year 11 pupil who lives in Clayhall with her parents and two sisters managed to get top marks in biology, chemistry, physics, geography, history, computing and French.

She also got the highest possible grade in maths, English literature and language, bagging a 9 in the new 1 to 9 marking system.

The 16-year-old said: “I still can’t believe that’s what I got, it hasn’t really settled in yet, it’s so surreal.

“I was too scared to open the envelope so my sister did it for me.

“She started screaming so I looked at what the results were and just burst into tears.”

Tahreem says her 20-year-old sister Tasneem has always been her main source of inspiration and made sure she got through her stressful science and maths papers.

She is staying at school in Woodford Green to study A-Level biology, chemistry, maths and psychology in the hope of being able to study medicine like her sibling.

She added: “My sister got me through my exams, I couldn’t have done it without her.

“She’s always been a role model to me and given me the motivation to work hard.”

Tasneem is about to start her third year of medicine at Imperial College London and says she is thrilled for Tahreem, who eventually wants to work in oncology or A&E.

When she was not revising Tahreem made sure to continue her hobbies – playing guitar, singing, and writing stories, and believes a good work-life balance is the key to success.

She added: “I think it’s really important to carry on doing what you enjoy, even if you’ve got lots of work to do.

“My parents are ecstatic, they just keep hugging me – it’s a bit strange actually.”