IT was all smiles at Saffron Walden County High School today (Thursday) as hundreds of students opened their GCSE results.
One of the first to arrive was 16-year-old Fran Steele, who plays football for Arsenal Ladies Reserves and England under 19s. She was “really happy” after getting 10 A*s and 1 A.
“I wasn’t expecting this to be honest. I’m not sure what I’m going to do for my A-levels but I quite like science, so possibly something to do with that,” said Fran, 16, from Elsenham, who began playing football at the age of five.
Twins Holly and Lucy Rutherford were hoping to cash in on their success after racking up 10 As between them. The sisters had made a “loose agreement” with their dad that for every A* he’d pay them £150, £100 for an A, and £50 for a B.
Any C grades saw them break even but had the results not gone so well the girls had agreed they would paid their father £50 for every D, £100 for an E and £150 if they failed a subject.
Having done their calculations, Holly and Lucy, both 16, worked out their dad owed them £1,800. “I’m not sure if we’re actually going to see any of the money or whether it was just a threat,” joked Lucy, while Holly added: “I think he’d like to see the money go towards a car, that is the intention, but it might be spent on an iPod instead.”
“I’m going to go a bit wild on the old bank account,” said Lucy, who told the Reporter there was going to be “a big family celebration” after their older brother passed his A-levels and got into the University of Manchester last week.
She added: “We’re over the moon to get these results. It was a bit tense in our house back in May and we were all treading on egg shells a little, so a nice family meal will be a great way to celebrate us all passing.”
Seb Patrick, 16, from Saffron Walden, said he was “mostly pleased” with his grades, though he said he would have liked “a bit higher mark in English”.
“I put a lot of work in to get these results and I’m really pleased it was worth it. I’ll be going for a meal to celebrate tonight and then looking forward to studying Geography, Maths and Philosophy and Economics next year.”
Sixteen-year-old Megan Downs, from Littlebury, said her and friends Grace Moorhouse, 16, from Steeple Bumpstead, Lydia White, 16, from Saffron Walden, and Lucy Hampson, 16, from Saffron Walden, had all got the results they were hoping for.
She told the Reporter: “We’re all really pleased. All of us did well in Science, in particular, which were all in the same group for, and that is what I’m going to study at the County High Sixth Form for my A-levels.”
Asked what the four of them were doing to celebrate, Megan replied: “We’re going to have a party and just invite all our friends over. I put a lot of work into studying for my GCSEs but it has really paid off. The teaching has been very good, too. Now we’re off to celebrate!”
On the key measure of GCSE achievement, 75 per cent of County High students gained at least five A*- C grades including English and Maths. The broader measure of performance showed 85pc of students received at least five higher grade passes (grade C or better).
That is down from last year when the pass rate was 80pc and 90pc respectively for the two measures.
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