SCORES of A-level students across north Essex have passed their exams with flying colours and secured places at top universities.
The proportion of A-level entries awarded an A grade or above has risen to an all-time high after exams were scrapped for a second year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Students have been given grades determined by teachers, rather than exams, with pupils assessed on what they were taught during the pandemic.
The hard work by students from the Sixth Form College, Colchester, clearly paid off, with many of them receiving stellar results.
Holly Poynter achieved four A* grades and will go on to reading classics at Queen’s College in Cambridge.
Tom Hopkins will be joining Holly in reading classics at Cambridge, but this time at Pembroke College, having achieved A* grades in history, English literature and extended project, alongside an A in French and a Grade 9 in GCSE Italian.
Susannah Eiden, who joined the sixth form from Colchester County High School for Girls, will also study classics at Cambridge.
Susannah said: “I am so happy with my results, although it was a different experience finding them out online.
“When I got my GCSE results I picked them up from school with my friends.
“Going forward, I am really looking forward to university and meeting new people.”
A-Level classical civilisation teacher Mark Brassington said: “We are, of course, delighted to see so many students progress to Cambridge.
“They have worked extremely hard, making full use of the extra opportunity to extend their skills via courses such as extended projects and the opportunity to pursue additional studies in various languages; indeed, this year we have seen some of the strongest extended project essays ever seen at the college.”
Esme Bishop, who previously studied at St Benedict’s College in Colchester, also gained four A* grades, including an A* in classical civilisation.
She will be joining her fellow students at Cambridge, but has chosen to pursue her love of English at Clare College.
Also heading for an Oxbridge place is James Simons who is about to study Biochemistry at Oxford after achieving A* grades in all his A-levels.
In other areas of the curriculum, Matthew Pyall is heading to Warwick, to read mathematics and he’s taking with him A* grades in maths, further maths and physics, alongside a grade A in computer science.
Twins Sofia and Anya Ilczenko enjoyed double success achieving six A*s and two A grades between them.
Molly Randall plans to go to the University of Manchester to study psychology having got two A*s and a B.
She said: “I am really relieved as I have been so worried about my grades.
“I am going to work first, then travel and then go to university.”
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