AGCSEgenius
Honour for girl who got 11 A*s and an A
WHILE teenagers around the country received their GCSE results this summer, Gemma Truran faced a nailbiting wait.
The 16-year- old was on a family holiday in Jersey and had to endure another agonising few days before arriving home.
But when she opened the envelope containing her grades, Gemma realised there was no reason to worry.
She had notched up 11 A*s and an A.
Yesterday, Gemma was named GCSE student of the year by the country’s largest exam board.
She was awarded the title, which is chosen from more than three million Assessment and Qualifications Alliance exam entries, because of the number of top grades she achieved in a single sitting. Gemma also got the highest mark in the country in the AQA maths category for her statistics GCSE, out of more than 250,000 entries.
She achieved A* s in maths, statistics, English language and literature, double-award science ( worth two GCSEs), French, German, geography, doubleaward applied information communications technology and an A in music.
And she was one of the top five students for English literature and science.
Gemma, who collected a gold medal and a £ 250 cheque at a ceremony in London, studied for her GCSEs at Arden School, a comprehensive for 11 to 16-yearolds in Solihull, West Midlands. She said: ‘It was a bit stressful waiting for the results while I was on holiday.
‘ I saw students opening their results on television and my friends sent me text messages saying how they had done. I was wondering what I’d got.
‘ I could have phoned up the school, but I didn’t want to mishear anything and I wanted to see my results in black and white.
‘The day the results came out and the day we were flying back home were the worst two days. I felt a bit sick.
‘It was quite a surprise when I eventually opened the envelope at home three or four days later. I didn’t expect to do so well. I’m just glad I could make Arden proud.’ Gemma is now studying A-levels in further maths, physics, human biology and psychology at Solihull School, which charges fees of £7,545 a year.
She won a scholarship which pays half the fees. She intends to take a maths degree and is considering a career as an accountant. Gemma lives with her mother Janet, a supply teacher, father Philip, a company secretary and brother, Russell, 18, in Solihull.
Mrs Truran said yesterday: ‘ We’re really proud of Gemma. She deserves her success as she worked so hard.’
Seventeen GCSE students received awards for the highest marks in their individual subjects with the AQA board.
Nine were from comprehensives, six from independent school and two from grammar schools.