Bury St Edmunds A-level results: Abbeygate Sixth Form College, St Benedict's Catholic School, County Upper School and Thurston Community College students celebrate
Students in the Bury St Edmunds area have opened up their A-level results today and are finding out if they have got into their universities of choice.
The national media has reported that students should prepare for lower than expected grades, but students from these schools and colleges are celebrating their hard earned results.
Abbeygate Sixth Form College
Abbeygate Sixth Form College in Bury's Beetons Way recorded an overall pass rate of 97 per cent from a total of 330 students, with an A* to C rate of 79 per cent. The per cent recorded for A* to A was 26 per cent.
David Gartland, the college's principal, was pleased with the students results and is content that they will go on to 'thrive'.
"The students have done brilliantly, " he said. "What people might forget is that these are the first set of exams that students have sat, so there was a lot of anxiety going into them. But the results we have achieved are just incredible.
"I look at this cohort of students and they're ready. They're ready to go to university, they're ready to get that higher level apprenticeship and I think they'll thrive."
One student who was 'absolutely ecstatic' with his results was 18-year-old Aaron McIntyre who lives in Bury's Nowton estate. Aaron studied four A-levels, achieving three A*s in maths, economic and politics and an A in French. Aaron will soon be off to Oxford University in October to study philosophy, politics and economics.
He said: "I'm absolutely ecstatic, probably more than getting those grades was just the fact I'd really set my heart on going to Oxford."
"I think it's a wonderful opportunity, so the fact that I got in there is probably worth more than grades itself.
"Everyone here has worked incredibly hard and I think we're all pretty happy with how it's turned out."
Another student who was proud of her results was 18-year-old Libby Vooght from Watton. She achieved straight As in media, sociology and geography. Libby is not planning to go to university straight away, instead she will take a gap year and continue working for security company, Force8, in Thetford, as part of their marketing and recruitment team. She then plans to study business and marketing at university.
She said: "I feel so pleased. I wasn't expecting it."
St Benedict's Catholic School
Imogen Senior, headteacher of St Benedict's Catholic School, said the results 'were very impressive', with 87 per cent of grades awarded being A* to C and the overall pass rate was 99 per cent.
From the cohort of 70 students, 19 achieved three or more A* to A grades.
"That over a quarter of our students achieved this exceptionally high standard is testament not only to their hard work, but also to the commitment and support of staff, parents and carers and our entire community," said Mrs Senior.
She said attainment across the board had been 'excellent' and in line with previous years, adding 43 per cent of all grades awarded were A* to A grade.
She said: "We are really incredibly proud of the students in our sixth form cohort and all that they have achieved throughout their time in the school.
"We are particularly delighted with the incredibly strong set of results that they have achieved as a group, the opportunities that this will afford them to pursue and the positive impact they can have on our world as a result."
She added: "The unique and unprecedented educational experience of these young people cannot be underestimated.
"This cohort had the unenviable experience of not only completing the key elements of their education under exceptionally challenging circumstances, but were denied the opportunity at GCSE to test their mettle and show what they were capable of through the formal examination system until now.
"Whilst we knew that they were brilliant young people and that our assessment and provision had been robust and fair, I know that for many the exams were a real source of worry and that this has been an anxious wait for results. Quite frankly, they’ve smashed it."
Twins Luc and Charlie Landenberger opened their A-level results on their 18th birthday - a day of double celebrations.
The students of St Benedict's Catholic School, who live in Bury, both achieved the grades they wanted.
Luc got an A* in history and As in English literature and geography, while Charlie received three A*s in politics, Spanish and geography.
The twins both said they were pleased with their results, which come after a disruptive two years for students.
Luc said he had been a 'bit nervous' in the run-up to opening them.
"I obviously saw on the news about the grade drops and you think the worst," he said.
He said not having formally sat exams because of the pandemic had 'added nerves'.
Charlie said a lot of hard work had gone into obtaining his results 'but it feels good to get them'.
He said the past couple of years had been 'strange', but he didn't really feel nervous over the exams.
Luc will take a gap year to go travelling and after would like to study geography at university, while Charlie is going to Bath University to study politics and Spanish.
Joe Leacy, 18, from Newmarket, is the only St Benedict's student from this year's cohort to be going to Oxbridge.
He achieved four A*s in chemistry, physics, maths and further maths, and will study engineering at Cambridge University.
Joe felt there had been 'quite a lot of scaremongering' in the news about lower grades this year.
"I think it was made to seem worse than it actually was," he said.
County Upper School
At County Upper School, 71 per cent of the 117 students achieved A*-C grades, with an overall pass rate of 97 per cent.
And 16 students achieved A* to A grades across all of their subjects.
County Upper headteacher Sally Kennedy said: “We are very proud of the fantastic results achieved by our students this year. This is testament to their hard work and the dedication of their teachers together with the support of their families despite the unprecedented challenges they have faced.
“We are confident in the knowledge that they will now go on to great success in the next stage of their education.”
She said the 'vast majority' of their students had their first offer confirmed and a small number had had adjusted offers, but five were going through Clearing.
And after the last couple of years, some students have decided to take a gap year before university, she said.
County Upper student Lizzie Burke, 18, from Bury, said she was 'happy' to get what she needed to study business at The University of East Anglia, with a distinction star in business and Bs for history and psychology.
She said: "We haven't had exams like this before so we were all quite nervous."
The past couple of years had been hard, but she still enjoyed her time at County, she said.
Emily Gower, 17, from Whepstead, said she was 'definitely' relieved to achieve what she needed for a degree apprenticeship in surveying.
She got a distinction star in business and Bs in sociology and economics.
She said the past two years had been 'different' to the normal experience, 'but I didn't know what that would be normally anyway so I just tried to get on with it and get out of it the best I could really'.
Sian Lewis, 18, from Bury, came away with As in maths, biology and chemistry, enabling her to go to Bath University to study biology.
Other notable individual achievements from County Upper include the following students who achieved A* grades across all subjects: Thomas Cartwright, Lauren Cocksedge, Felicity Ellis, Peter Lillistone, Anna Mavroghenis, Alexander Welton and Stella Wilkinson.
Felicity and Stella will be going on to take up places at Cambridge University, studying chemical engineering and natural sciences respectively; Thomas will be going on to study computer science at Birmingham; Peter will study computer science at Bristol; Alexander will be taking computer science at St Andrews; Lauren is planning to study neuroscience at Manchester and Anna is taking up a place at Birmingham to study medicine.
Thurston Community College
Students at Thurston Sixth’s Beyton campus have been celebrating their A-level results this morning.
Amongst them was 18-year-old Aimee Hartley, who is now heading to York University to study English and linguistics.
Aimee, who lives in Bury, achieved an A* in pyschology, A* in English language and an A in English literature.
She said: “It is absolutely insane, I’m just a bit speechless and I don’t know what to think.
“It is extra special because we didn’t have a proper GCSE results day.”
Aimee, will be joined at York University by George Howarth, 18, from Elmswell who got four A* grades in maths, further maths, physics and computer science.
After receiving four A* grades, Katy Shaw, 18, is heading to Cambridge to study medicine.
Katy, who had to have a scribe for her exam after she injured her hand said her result ‘hadn’t sunk in at all’.
Excitedly sharing her results with her mum was Emily Boreham, who wants to train to become a primary school teacher.
Emily will be going on to study a childcare university course at West Suffolk College after achieving an A in English literature, B in art craft and design, and a B in psychology.
The 18-year-old who lives in Bury, said: “I was expecting to get three D grades, I didn’t think I was going to get what I needed, I was so relieved, I didn’t think I would get an A ever.”
Jade Boreham, Emily’s mum, said her daughter worked hard to achieve her grades and has wanted to be a teacher for as long as she can remember.
She said: “I am just so relieved and chuffed, I knew she could do it!”
- See here for A-level results from schools around the county.
