The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Courier Country pupils see fruits of hard work
Exams were cancelled for the first time in history due to coronavirus
With many getting up early to check their phones or to look out the window for any sign of the post, it may look like any other results day for pupils across Tayside and Fife.
But after exams were cancelled for the first time ever, it has been anything but normal for thousands of young people.
Gregor Mitchell, 17, of Woodmill High School in Dunfermline, plans to challenge two of his grades, but said he had done “not bad” overall.
He earned an A, two Bs and a C in his Highers.
He said: “I’m not that unhappy because my results are fairly good but I am annoyed about my modern studies result (B) because I had been working towards an A for the whole year and my coursework reflected an A.”
Jamie McLeod, 17, was among those who fared better than expected, coming away with three As and a B in his Highers and Advanced Highers.
The Harris Academy leaver, who is going to study law at Aberdeen University, received his results by text at around 8.10am and said: “I’m proud of the work I did.”
Dundee High brother and sister Alex and Georgia Douglas were also delighted with their results, achieving 12 As between them in their National 5 and Higher qualifications.
Alex, 15, said: I’ve done better than expected.”
Georgia, who managed a clean sweep of As in her five Highers, is now turning her attention to trying to secure a place to study English literature at university.
She said: “People were a bit unsure as to how the exams would go but I’m really happy with how they have turned out.”
Fellow Dundee High pupil Catriona Paterson, achieved three As in her final year.
She said: “I’m very surprised actually, I wasn’t expecting them to go as well as they did.”
Izabel Samaeba has had a different experience than most pupils in Scotland, having only just started at Dundee High in January after moving to the country from Canada.
Despite the pandemic forcing schools to shut their doors just months after she first started, Izabel has taken the disruption in her stride.
“It’s definitely something you wouldn’t expect to happen but honestly I think I dealt with it pretty well,” she said.
Rosie Porter, of Longforgan, was celebrating achieving the highest grade in her Higher French exam when she received her results yesterday.
Glenalmond College pupil Rosie achieved a Band 1 grade in the modern language course.
Dr Michael Alderson, head of Glenalmond, said: “Glenalmond offers a unique opportunity for pupils to opt to take either Highers or A-Levels or combine both and we are delighted that our pupils have performed so well in their Highers, during this very different year for exam results.”
Sam Watson, deputy rector and head of senior years at Dundee High School, said: “It would be really good to have a total review of the exam system to see how you can achieve the best results for young people.”
It’s definitely something you wouldn’t expect to happen but honestly I think I dealt with it pretty well. IZABEL SAMAEBA