Gabriel Owusu-Amankwaatia and Cara Green celebrate at Trinity School, Aspley
Thousands of Nottingham students are celebrating their A-Level results and moving on to new careers and university places.
Some local schools have seen big improvements on their results performance from last year and nationally a record number of people have been offered places in higher education.
At Trinity School, Aspley, 50.9 per cent of students achieved A*-B, compared with 43.5 per cent last year.
Aidan Brennan, deputy headteacher and in charge of sixth form, said: “We’ve got there with a combination of hard work and dedication from staff and students, many of whom raised their game over the last year.
“We’ve been relentless with our monitoring and have been thinking in terms of ‘expected’ grades and ‘aspirational’ grades – we say aspirational grades are what students could achieve if they really push themselves.”
Gabriel Owusu-Amankwaatia, 18, got an A* in Maths and A grades in Physics and Chemistry.
He said: “I just wanted that A* and now it feels like all the hard work paid off, I’m so happy.
“The hardest thing is to keep on working when you go on study leave because from then on no one is grilling you about working hard – you have to push yourself.”
Cara Green, also 18, picked up three Bs, in philosophy and ethics, physics and chemistry.
She said: “It’s a kind of surreal feeling, I’ve been offered my choice of a place at university and I was so shocked and overwhelmed.
“I’m going to the University of Liverpool to do philosophy and I’m just so relieved because you’re never quite sure how things will turn out.”
Also celebrating was Rebekah Carre, 19 and from Stapleford, who is going to the University of Northampton after her grades of CCD.
“I’m so happy because I got DDE in A2 last year – I was so disappointed and I’ve worked really hard since. I just couldn’t look at the piece of paper at first – but just seeing they’ve improved from last year is brilliant.”
Students were able to see if they at least had a place at university from 8am on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service’s (UCAS) website.
But to see their actual grades students had to pick them up from their schools.
Around Nottingham there was also good news at Bilborough College, where more than half of students got A*-B.
Exactly 50 per cent of students at George Spencer Academy, Stapleford, also achieved A*-B.
Karen Fawcett, post-16 director at the school said: “It’s great to see so many smiling faces on results day. It’s the culmination of a lot hard work by them and their teachers and always a special moment.”
The proportion of A* and A grades nationally stands at 25.8 per cent, down by 0.1 per cent on last year. The pass rate of 98.1 per cent is the same as 2015.
More results indicating performance across Nottingham are expected later.
UCAS says 424,000 places at university have been offered across the UK, up by three per cent compared to results day last year.
Gerard Hesketh, 18, also from Trinity School, got DDD in ICT, drama, philosophy and ethics.
He said: “I’ve never been a very academic person but the fact I did it made me really happy. I didn’t plan to go to university and instead I’m just going to work – I’ve already got a job at CeX [technology shop] and hopefully I can work my way up there.”
At Nottingham Academy 70 per cent of students achieved two or more A-levels and 43 per cent have achieved three or more – both up on last year.
Well done to Michelle from @NottinghamAcad on scoring an A* in PE, hopes to continue her studies in the USA #alevels pic.twitter.com/x6gsWPG9S5
— Greenwood Academies (@GreenwoodAcad) August 18, 2016
The private Nottingham Girls’ High School, in the Arboretum, said 52 per cent of its students got A*-A.
It saw particularly high performance in mathematics – 100 per cent of students taking the subject got A*-C.
Chloe Shipway and Amelia Bowling celebrate their results at Nottingham Girls High School
UCAS said more than 27,400 more young women than men have already been placed at university, but this gap is slightly narrower than in 2015 with three per cent more men placed in 2016 and two per cent more women.
Mary Curnock Cook, UCAS chief executive, said: “This is a big day for hundreds of thousands of young people who have chosen to kick start their adult life with higher education – well done to all of them.
“I’m particularly pleased to see the first small signs of improvement for young men, although they are still too far behind.”
