‘I’m now going to relax for the next couple of weeks’
THERE was a steady flow of students and parents arriving for their GCSE results at St Columb’s College, where staff were on hand to advise and offer congratulations.
Ethan Lavery (16) from Derry scored an impressive A* in all
11 subjects he studied and was over the Moon.
He said: “I was aiming for these grades and I did work hard for them so I am pleased.
“May and June were two difficult months because I had to study so much while the weather was sunny.
“The teachers at this school were really helpful so I will definitely return here to study A-levels.
“I want to do four but I haven’t finalised my choices yet. I want to do Maths, Physics and History and either Spanish or Chemistry.
“These are the subjects I enjoyed most. I enjoy English but not Shakespeare, so that put me off doing English at A-level.
“In the longer term I am considering a career in either law or finance but, for now, I am going to relax for the next couple of weeks and not worry about anything.”
Niall Mooney (16) from Dungiven was working out the number of points he secured across his GCSEs in anticipation of returning to study A-levels. He achieved one A grade, three Bs, two C* and one C.
He said: “The introduction of the C* grade has means it is a harder system of marking but, adding up the points across all my subjects, I have enough to get back to study A-levels, which I am over the Moon about.
“I am coming back to do History, German and Moving Image Arts, which is like film study and potentially a career path for me. The build-up to the results has been quite stressful and I am glad it is over with. I can breathe a sigh of relief.”
Joseph Thames (16) from Derry achieved four A*s, five As and one B.
He said: “I am very happy with my results. I feel I could have improved in certain areas but I am not disappointed by any means.
“I am slightly disappointed in the B I got for Further Maths because I was just one point away from an A and I thought I could have reached A* in Spanish, although I’ll take the A I did get.
“I am going to do two languages at A-level — German and Spanish along with English and History but I may have to drop one but I will see how it goes.
“I have a real love of languages and, while I don’t have a particular career path in mind yet, I think I could do something with languages in the future.”