TEENAGE DRAMA
BUT A HAPPY ENDING FOR MANY
DOUBLE TOP TWINS BAG FULL MARKS
Five sets of twins from the same school have achieved top grades in their GCSES.
Esha and Risha Gupta from The Grammar School at Leeds achieved 19 grade 9s – formerly an A* – between them and the pair have even mapped out identical plans through sixth form.
Both will study A-levels in maths, biology, chemistry and economics.
Esha said: “We’re so happy, our grades exceeded our expectations.
“We’ve made the most of our time off over the last few months but now we can’t wait to start school again.”
Other twins Oliver and William Law achieved 15 grade 9s between them, and Clara and Orland Winters achieved 18 passes at grade 7 – the equivalent of an A – or above and a grade 9 each.
Also from the same school, Hannah and Lucia Davies chalked up 19 GCSES between them with half at grade 7 or above.
And classmates Flossy and Iggy Clancy are celebrating 20 passes including 17 at 7 or above.
Sue Woodroofe, the school’s principal, said: “This has been a tremendously difficult year for students, families and school staff, following the abrupt end of face-to-face schooling and the restrictions of lockdown.
“Our students were disappointed to lose the opportunity to sit their examinations.
“However we are pleased that the assessment process has recognised their consistent hard work in senior school.”
MOCKS PANIC VOLUNTEER REWARDED
A student who spent her summer making care packages got a welcome reward after she scored a series of 9s.
When the exams were called off, Izzy Geddes, 16, of Portsmouth Grammar School, decided to help her local community with the National Citizenship Service volunteering scheme. They put together care packages for cleaners, who Izzy describes as the “invisible key workers”.
With a team of other young volunteers, they made baskets with treats, as well as practical things like face masks and shower gel, and then delivered them around Portsmouth.
But Izzy was increasingly worried about her results while watching the panic about A-levels.
She said: “There were a lot of people downgraded by the algorithm which was so stressful to see.”
After limited revision for her mocks, getting a “middling” result of 7s, 8s and 9s, she worried that teachers would make predictions on those results.
Izzy knew she would be better prepared for her real exams and worried about how her teachers could judge her potential, when they hadn’t seen how hard she’d worked since March. She said getting her results by email felt like an “anticlimax”: “You just pressed the button, then it was there”.
She was delighted to get all 9s, bar one 8 but said: “No one got a chance to show their full potential.”
She still wishes she had taken exams.
“It feels more like your own work then,” she said.
AFTER CANCER OUTSTANDING GRADES
A teenager who overcame cancer and launched her own charity to help other children struggling with the disease has achieved outstanding GCSE results.
Tabby Wood, 16, a student at Bradford Grammar School (BGS), set up Tabby’s Trust earlier this year, to help other children and their families in hospital going through a similar battle.
Tabby, of Burley-in-wharfedale, was diagnosed with a rare form of fast-growing ovarian cancer when she was 13.
Yesterday, she was told she had three 9s, six 8s, and a 7.
Tabby, with family and friends, has raised more than £24,500 for other charities, including doing a 250-mile bike ride.
Tabby said: “I am really proud of my results, especially my 9 in biology which is my favourite subject. I’m looking forward to sixth form and have decided to take A-levels in chemistry, biology, and history, with an EPQ (Extended Project Qualification).
“Having spent so long in hospital I know what a difference a good medic can make, so after that I’d like to go into medicine or become a vet.”
During lockdown, she continued to support the community by volunteering at Leeds Children’s Hospital, producing literature, a podcast and short film for young people about coronavirus.
Dr Simon Hinchliffe, headmaster at BGS, said: “We’re all incredibly proud of Tabby and the exceptional person she has become.”
BTEC DELAY UNCERTAINTY AND ANXIETY
Ellie Kidd, a Btec student from North Wales, said she found out that her results would be delayed while watching the news the previous night.
She told Sky News: “I was watching the evening news and found out I was not getting them. I have friends that missed out on places at certain universities and now have to defer a year.
“For it to happen last night – it’s been handled badly.
“This could have been done a few weeks ago or even last week. I just think it’s turned into a huge mess.”
Other students were also upset and anxious about being unable to enrol at their chosen college.
Caleb Taylor, 19, is waiting for the results of his level-three Btec in computing and business.
His father, Richard, said he has been unable to enrol at his chosen college in Gwent for next year without knowing his final grades.
He told the PA news agency: “I think it’s a disgrace.
“He feels like he is a secondclass student, and Btecs are seen as less important than A-levels because they have been sorted out last.
“Technical qualifications shouldn’t be seen as less-than. My son is really anxious because he doesn’t know what he will be doing next year.
“He plans to go to university but it is a good thing he didn’t want to go this year because he would have missed out on his space.
“There has just been no communication, we just don’t know what is going on.”