With students up and down the country fretting about their A-level results, some famous faces have been keen to remind them they failed to get good grades.

As teenagers nervously opened their envelopes this morning, several celebrities went on social media to tell them about their bad results – or that they never took the exams in the first place.

Here Sky News looks at the rich, famous and successful Britons who didn’t do well at school.

Jeremy Clarkson

The 62-year-old former Top Gear host is well known for sharing his poor A-level results when the time comes each year.

On Thursday he tweeted alongside a picture of a yacht: “Don’t worry if you’re a level results are disappointing. I got a C and 2 Us and I’m currently holidaying on this boat.”

In previous years he has said he was “sitting in a villa in St Tropez” and “my chef is preparing truffles for breakfast”.

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Deborah Meaden

Despite having three honorary degrees from various universities, Dragons’ Den business tycoon Deborah Meaden left school at 16 before completing her A-levels.

She started her first business at 19 – a glass ceramics import company – and at the age of 63 is believed to be worth around £49m.

Simon Cowell

Music mogul and talent show judge Simon Cowell left school with just three O-levels, which have since been replaced by GCSEs.

After he finished his time at private schools in Hertfordshire and Dover he ended up as a runner on the 1980s horror film The Shining.

His father then found him a job at record label EMI sorting out letters.

He has been on the Sunday Times Rich List several times, with a net worth of more than £350m.

Tinie Tempah

Rapper Tinie Tempah didn’t do as badly as some of the others on this list, but has been keen for students to outperform him at school.

In recent years he tweeted promising fans £100 for every A or A* they achieved in their A-levels.

Born Patrick Chukweumeka Okogwu, he got two Bs and a D in media studies, religious studies and psychology at his school in London.

Russell Brand

Comedian Russell Brand is another celebrity well known for talking about his poor school results.

He went to secondary school in Essex before being accepted to a prestigious performing arts school in Guildford, Surrey.

Brand once tweeted: “Good luck with your exams but don’t take it seriously – I have no A-levels and am now studied for A-level, it’s all rhubarb.”

Richard Branson

The 72-year-old entrepreneur is arguably Britain’s most famous case of “I left school when I was 16”.

He went to various private schools but decided to leave after his O-levels.

The Virgin founder has since spoken out about having learning difficulties, including dyslexia and ADHD.

Jon Snow

Former Channel 4 News anchor Jon Snow struggled during his A-levels.

He got a C in English language and failed geography and biology.

The now 74-year-old said he “scraped a place reading law at the University of Liverpool” but didn’t complete his studies, having been kicked out for an anti-apartheid protest.

Before stepping down last year, he was the broadcaster’s longest serving presenter.

Alan Sugar

The Apprentice’s Alan Sugar was brought up on a council estate in Hackney, east London, and left school at 16.

He sold car parts in his teenage years before founding his own computer company Amstrad.

The 75-year-old became a member of the House of Lords in 2009.

Jo Malone

Also brought up on a council estate, Jo Malone admits she “doesn’t have a single qualification”.

After struggling with dyslexia at school, she left at the age of 13 to care for her mother who had suffered a stroke.

She taught herself about cosmetics and went on to found her self-titled business Jo Malone, before selling it to Estee Lauder and later setting up a new company Jo Loves.

Chris Evans

Growing up in Warrington, Chris Evans passed his 11-plus exam and got into grammar school – only to leave at 16.

He started out at a station called Piccadilly Radio in Manchester in 1983 before going on to become one of the BBC’s highest-paid stars with his Radio 2 show.

Tim Peake

A high achiever in all his fields – space travel, aeronautics and the military – Tim Peake has admitted he didn’t do as well as he hoped at school.

Somebody once pointed out on Twitter that he got a second-class degree at university, to which he replied: “I won’t even tell you my A-Level results!”

He studied maths, physics and chemistry in Chichester before enrolling at Sandhurst military school.

Jake Humphrey

The sports presenter failed all three of his A-levels at school in Norwich.

He once tweeted: “A-level students – remember results don’t/won’t define you. In 1999 I got E, N, U for mine. Things haven’t turned out too bad…”

The now 43-year-old was later sacked from a job at McDonalds before going on to have a successful broadcasting career.

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