Faring well in the board exams once is no mean feat. Keeping up the good performance in the next level is even special.

Several city students who performed well in the ICSE exams in 2011 came out with flying colours in the Plus Two boards as well. They had to toil hard for maintaining the consistency, though.

Shailja Agarwal of St Joseph’s Convent High School is one among them. She scored above 95 per cent in the Class X board exams. In the ISC, she improved upon her ICSE marks.

A student of commerce, the 18-year-old star attributed her success to long study hours and guidance from teachers. The daughter of Sandeep Agarwal and Sabita Agarwal was not only appreciated by her grandmother Rita Agarwal but also by her teachers for her consistent show in the two board exams.

Shailja started her schooling from Mary Ward Kindergarten, the junior wing of Joseph’s Convent High School. Now, she wants to graduate in law. She has taken the Combined Law Admission Test and expects to crack it.

Shailja’s classmate, Shivani Sinha, also excelled in the commerce stream. She had scored above 95 per cent in the ICSE. In the ISC, she performed even better. Now, she wants to be a chartered accountant.

Shivani took admission to St Joseph’s Convent High School in Class XI. She had taken the Class X examination from St Karen’s High School.

She said: “I expected more than 90 per cent marks but did not expect to score above 95 per cent. I opted for the commerce stream because I like it. I never went for tuitions, yet I managed to fare well. I’m really happy and the credit goes to my parents.”

Hear the secret of Shivani’s better performance in the Plus Two from her: “I had to study everything in Class X. In Class XII, I had to prepare just for the subjects I was interested in.”

Aditi Jain, a humanities student of St Joseph’s Convent High School, scored above 90 per cent in the ISC — almost 10 per cent more than what she scored in Class X as a student of St Xavier’s High School.