As year 11 students across the Stroud District opened their all-important white envelopes this morning, adult learners at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College were also joining the celebrations as they received their English and Maths GCSE results.
After supporting her children with home tuition throughout lockdown, Mel Watson felt she needed to brush up on her English and Maths. Since returning to education to study for her GCSEs Mel hasn’t looked back.
“I can’t believe I passed both. A 7 in English and a 4 in Maths,” said Mel.
“This experience has been amazing. I would tell anyone thinking about doing a GCSE to go for it, you just don’t know what is possible!”
Adult learner Debbie Messenger decided to continue her learning journey after successfully gaining her Maths GCSE at SGS last year. Debbie enrolled on the GCSE English course and was delighted with today’s results, having been awarded a grade 6.
“This course has been amazing. Brilliant tutor, all-round brilliant. This is such a confidence boost, I feel clever! Who knows what is next?” she said.
Commenting on today’s results, SGS Learning Area Manager George James said: “We have had some really excellent results. Our new two-year provision for home-schooled learners has been really positive.
“Our one-year provision where learners may be retaking has had some fantastic grades. Many learners have certain barriers to learning, including health and well-being.
“We offer a different environment to learners who may not succeed in a mainstream environment, it has been really rewarding to see the learners’ achievements today. I am very proud of the students and the team.”
There were also many individual successes for younger students including SGS learner Hannah Guest who enrolled on the two-year GCSE programme after deciding the structure of school learning was not for her.
“I didn’t think I would take my exams let alone get such good results,” said Hannah.
“The system is so different at college. I went from feeling too anxious to go into school, to feeling so welcomed at SGS.”
Delighted with her results, Hannah is now going on to study T-Level Childcare.
Noah Ryan joined SGS after being home-schooled for two years. He enrolled on the GCSE Plus Programme at the SGS Stroud campus where he gained 9s in both Maths and Biology, an 8 in English and a 6 in both Psychology and History.
Noah commented: “I really love it here at SGS. I love the community, everyone is really nice.”
Noah is now moving on to A-levels with a plan to study Automated Mechanical Engineering at university. In the future, his goal is to work in Formula 1 as an engineer.
SGS student, Rif arrived in the UK in 2020 and also enrolled on the GCSE Plus Programme at the college campus in Stroud:
“English wasn’t my first language so, at the beginning I felt like a stranger from nowhere but I’m very glad I came here. This College makes me feel I belong and my classmates and teachers have been a great support to me.”
Rif received a 7 in Maths, a 6 in Biology and a 5 in English, Psychology and History. He is now moving on to an Access to Higher Education course before going to university.
Brandon Frankcom was home-schooled for four years and had progressed from the Pre16 Graphic Design course at SGS onto the GCSE Plus programme.
“The GCSE programme has been really good – the tutors are with you every step of the way. You have a lot of support because the class sizes are small.”
Brandon was awarded a 6 in English, a 5 in Biology and a 4 in Maths and Media. He is now going on to T-Level Health and Science and aims to study Paramedic Science at university.
