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Students celebrate record grades
Jack Lefley and Katie Whelan14 Aug 2008
Students across London were celebrating today after scooping top grades in their A-levels.
There were tears of joy when pupils at Camden School for Girls tore open envelopes to discover they had got 13 straight As between them.
They arrived at the school to be among some of the first in the country to receive their results.
Leah Willey, 18, of Camden, got the four As she needed to study English at Exeter University.
She said: "I'm ready for university life but only after plenty of time to celebrate."
Rose Green, 18, of Camden, will start a degree in Classics at Cambridge in September after getting three As.
She said: "It's all a bit weird after the big build up. but now it's over Now it's time to enjoy it. Well, after we've had breakfast."
Friends Grace Goddard and Jessie McGrath, both 18, were delighted after getting three As each.
Grace said: "It hasn't really sunk in. It's great that we've all done so well. I couldn't be happier."
Jessie added: "I'm delighted. I know I've got to think about university but today I just want to enjoy it."
The results explain why the north London comprehensive has one of the most sought after sixth forms in the capital.
Former students at the school in Sandall Road include the Prime Minister's wife Sarah Brown and Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson.
The sixth form has around 420 pupils, a third of whom are boys, and is oversubscribed every year.
It achieved the top 'outstanding' rating in its latest Ofsted report and was praised for 'excellent teaching, a stimulating curriculum and students' own positive attitudes to learning'.
Camden School for Girls, which has specialist status for music and English, has consistently achieved results well above the national and London averages.
But this marked a record year for the school with 99.6% of exams passed and 87% resulting in A to C grades, a marginal improvement on last year.
Head of 6th form Barbara Butler dismissed claims that the exams were getting easier.
She said: "They have worked so hard to achieve these results and they don't need to hear that today.
"This has been a great year which is down to everybody's hard work and the students' focus."
Youngsters at Eltham College also scoring top marks.
Gabriella Flatt, 18, from Eltham, got four As in art and design, English literature, music and politics. She said: "I'm so happy, I can't believe it. It feels like a dream, it's such great news. I haven't told my parents yet they are meeting me later. I think there'll be some happy faces in my house."
Ms Flatt is a talented pianist who got to the third round of last year's Young Musician of the Year.
She said: "I'm applying this year to do music, I'm applying to Cambridge but also independent colleges. I want to be a professional pianist," she said. "I don't get as nervous as this performing, it's all the suspense of waiting and seeing for these results."
Rachel Collins, 18, from Bickley, near Bromley, got four As in history, maths, further maths and physics. She said: "I'm very happy I wasn't expecting it but was definitely hoping for it. It's been scary and nerve-wracking for the last couple of days but I'm happy now."
Amrita Guram, 18, from Chislehurst, got three As in biology, chemistry and English literature. She said: "I feel really relieved, it's been very stressful. I had my fingers crossed. I'm going to Warwick to study law and I'm really looking forward to it. I want to be an environmental lawyer because I'm interested in green issues and have always studied the sciences."
Stephen Lenzi, 18, from Bromley, got four As in chemistry, German, maths and physics. He is going to King's College, Cambridge to study natural sciences.
He said: "I'm ecstatic, deliriously happy. My mum's here but I'll be celebrating with all my friends and family tonight."
Robbie Jacobs, 18, from Eynsford, got three As in music, history and politics. The tenor has won a choral scholarship to King's College, Cambridge.
He said: "I'm extremely happy. You work so hard for it and you get there in the end. It seems all worth it now. I won my scholarship last year so I've been waiting for my results since then. I'm massively excited and I've been meeting all the choral scholars in Cambridge. If I had got a B today it would have been a horrendous disappointment. I want to be a conductor but singing is important to my life."
And there were similar scenes at Westminster Kingsway College near King's Cross when students at the further education college were given their results.
Reiss Bruin, 19, from Wapping, got an A in English literature, an A in politics and a B in history.
He said: "I'm going to Manchester to study law and I hope to be a barrister. My family are really pleased for me because I'm the first of us to go to university. I'm quite proud of that and I'm looking forward to escaping London for three years. There'll be big celebrations all weekend."
Tricia Hemans, 18, from Walworth, got an A in law, an A in sociology and a B in history. She said: "That's what I needed to get into university but you're never really sure until you get your results. I'm going to Queen Mary University in east London to study law. I haven't told my mum yet but I told my sister and she said to crack open the champagne. This college is really good at supporting people. I've had a really good time."
Sarah Mac, 18, from Abbey Wood, got a B in drama, a C in English literature and a D in psychology. She said: "Hopefully I can go to university to study psychology. It was definitely a nerve-wracking morning but I'm not too surprised by my results. They were what I was expecting."
Rebekah Simpson, 19, from Tulse Hill, got an A in sociology, a B in business studies and a B in economics. She is going to Goldsmiths University to study history. She said: "I knew I passed but I just wanted to know my grades. I got into my course but I really wanted to get A, A, B. I've told all my family and friends though and they're really happy."
