Learners of all ages have been celebrating their GCSE results.
Hundreds of our students, ranging from teenagers keen to progress to work, A levels or university to adults aiming to change careers, picked up their results on Thursday 21 August.
Nana and Kobbie Owusu were both celebrating GCSE success after only one year in the UK.
The brothers moved to the country from Ghana last summer and enrolled at Somerville House to begin their new educational journey with us.
Neither had any GCSE grades or equivalent so they each began our Personal Social Development Course. Both excelled in their class, so they were quickly moved up to Level 2.
It soon became apparent that they would far exceed their predicted English and foundation maths GCSE grades, too – and on results day, that is exactly what happened. Kobbie achieved a grade 4 in both his English and maths, while Nana got a 4 for English and 5 for maths.
Student Relations and Behaviour Lead, Jake Ripton, hailed those results and declared that both brothers – who are talented footballers – were ‘destined for greatness’. He said: “It has been an absolute privilege to work with Nana and Kobbie this year.
“Their attitude to learning has been fantastic and they have been thoroughly engaged both in class and with extracurricular activities.
“We will be sad to see them go from Somerville House, but we look forward to seeing what they achieve in the future.”
Kobbie and Nana both now plan to progress to an electrical engineering course at our Printworks campus.
Many adult learners have to juggle caring responsibilities with their studies. For Sabina Wasik, who studied for her maths GCSE while looking after her six year old autistic daughter, there was also a significant language barrier to overcome.
Despite those challenges, Sabina – who moved to the UK from Poland ten years ago – excelled and achieved a grade 8, a result she and her teachers were delighted with.
She said: “I’m very happy! I never thought I’d get a grade 8, I thought maybe a 5 or 6!
“It was hard because I had to manage every lesson and everything around my daughter, Madia, so I had to find someone to take care of her because my partner works Monday to Friday.
“And I was doing Level 1 English Functional Skills at the same time as studying for the maths GCSE. It was really complicated but I tried to learn when Madia was at school and in the evenings.
“My college teachers were very patient and always happy to help, everything was explained really well. I’m now going to do an online class for GCSE English, and then we’ll see – maybe I’ll apply for university.”
Deputy Head of Community, Wendy Lane, said: “Sabina has demonstrated a commitment to studying as an adult learner.
“She has had 100 percent attendance in both her maths and English courses this year, and has developed the skills to complete the independent homework tasks.
“She didn’t believe she could achieve these grades but never gave up trying.”
Twenty two year old Holly Freemantle has had a lot on her plate this year – and had to balance studying with parenthood, moving into her first home by herself, and taking on her first part-time job.
Despite all those other responsibilities, single parent Holly was pleased to achieve a grade 5 in her English, a significant increase from the grade 2 she achieved at high school.
She also got a grade 3 in her maths exam, and is coming back to us next year to continue her studies with the ultimate aim of starting a career in nursing.
For Abbie Stephenson meanwhile, relief was the overriding emotion when she discovered she had got the grades she needed in maths and English.
Abbie will be staying with us as she goes on to study Level 2 Animal Care.
Abril Priganica has completed her time as a 14+ Academies student in fine style, achieveing a clutch of terrific grades (including two 8s and three 7s) in her maths, English language, English literature and Science GCSEs.
She said: “I’m super happy, really joyous, it’s so good to know that all of the hard work I’ve done has really paid off.”
She singled out the mental health support that the 14+ Academies provides for praise, and for helping students get through exam times.
She said: “Most mainstream schools wouldn’t have that.
“GCSEs and exam season is such a stressful time where students can eat themselves up and get super-stressed. The fact that 14+ has staff that are trained in mental health support who you can go to and be like ‘look, I’m worried, can you help me out?, has definitely helped in terms of my process mentally during exam season.”
Abril is now going on to study a BTEC Level 3 course in musical theatre.
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Pathways into nursing, teaching, music and more have opened up for students celebrating their GCSE – plus Level 1 and 2 vocational – results.
Among those looking forward to taking their next steps after opening their result papers on Thursday 22 August was 38 year old Kenny Knott.
Kennny already had A levels, a 2:1 history degree and a 15 year career in the army (plus seven in the reserves) under his belt.
But to pursue his dream of becoming a history teacher, he had to go back to education to get the ‘missing piece’ in his qualifications, GCSE maths.
Kenny, who is married with an eight year old daughter, had to juggle family life and work with his studies but it has all paid off – as he discovered when he opened his results on-air during a live radio interview.
He said: “I’m over the moon! To get the grade five I was after is so emotional, it overcame me a little bit. Maths is hard, and it doesn’t get easier – algebra hasn’t changed since my school days.
“I just want to say thank you to Laurence Lennon and the team at Leeds City College, they’ve been amazing.
“I joined the army at a young age, was with the Yorkshire Regiment 15 years, then did my A levels in a year and my history degree. But I want to teach history and I still needed my GCSE maths before I could do my training, so I came here.
“The staff, and especially Laurence, have been absolutely fantastic and were always at hand to help with anything I needed,.”
Currently working as an Army Reserve recruiter, Kenny is now looking forward to starting his teacher training, in Leeds, this September.
Another parent-student, 38 year old Vitor Bonanca, was delighted to achieve a grade 9 in his maths GCSE.
He said: “I have two babies at home and the youngest, who is just four months, was born in the middle of my course so I couldn’t really study there much!
“But my wife supported me a lot with that and I come from a science background, so going to the maths class was kind of a pleasure to me.
“I’m really pleased with my grade – I was expecting a good one, but not necessarily a 9!”
Vitor now plans to do a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.
At the other end of the age scale, 14+ Academies students Lara Sweeney and Billy Wilkinson were both celebrating passing all of their GCSEs.
Sixteen year old Billy, who now has his sights on further college studies and then university, said: “I’m really glad I came here; I wouldn’t be who I am today without this college.
“I’ve made a lot of friends and the teachers treat you like an adult and show you respect.”
Lara, also 16, took study leave earlier this year to focus on her revision. She said: “It was the best feeling ever to see that I’d done well; I was up really late the night before stressing, and thought it would be a miracle to pass.
“I’m off to CAPA College in Wakefield now, to focus on my singing, drama and all my music.”
GCSE results day is always a big moment for Leeds Sixth Form College’s Step-Up Pathway students, too. For Constance Mitchell, for example, her grades mean she can now take a step closer to her goal of becoming a nurse by enrolling for a T Level here at Leeds City College.
The 17 year old said: “I’d convinced myself I was going to fail but I did really well and got the grades I needed, so I’m looking forward to doing my T Level at Quarry Hill.”
She also has no hesitation in recommending the Step-Up access programme to anyone: “It’s been really great, I’ve made friends for life here and not just the students, the staff as well. It’s been a really good experience.
“Step-Up is like a second chance and a reminder that your first GCSE results aren’t the be-all and end-all, there are options – like this – to fall back on.”
ESOL student Yulia Sakhno meanwhile, who moved to Leeds after fleeing the war in Ukraine, had mixed fortunes, passing her maths while failing her English.
But she was still grateful for her college experience, and full of gratitude for her teachers. She said: “Starting life in a new country was challenging, but I knew that improving my English and gaining recognized qualifications were key to finding work.
“That’s why I joined the Maths GCSE course here. Although I already have a strong background in maths from my education in Ukraine, the course was still very useful. It helped me understand the differences in approaches between the UK and Ukrainian systems, while also improving my English, especially in mathematical terminology.
“Having this GCSE certification is an important step toward building a better future here.”
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