There were tears of joy in St Helens this morning as pupils opened their GCSE results. A stream of students filed into the gym at St Cuthbert's Catholic High School on Berrys Lane from 9am to find out what they had achieved.
Anneliese Carpenter's emotional reaction
One of the first pupils to see their results was Anneliese Carpenter, who exclaimed "I've passed maths" before bursting into tears. The 16 year-old was quickly hugged by her family, friends and teachers.
Speaking to the ECHO afterwards, Anneliese said: "I got a grade 4. Maths was a real struggle. I was over the moon. I didn't think I'd pass. My teacher helped me get the grade to be honest. I'm really happy with my other results too."
Anneliese achieved a distinction in health and social care, 3 in her Science, 3 in Spanish, 7 in drama, 5 in English language, 4 in English literature and five in RE. She will be going to Riverside College to study painting and decorating.
Alexia Isherwood and Tammy Ajibawo celebrate
There were also tears of joy from Alexia Isherwood. The 16 year-old said: "I was really happy with that grade. I needed it to get into college."
"It's my hardest subject. I was really really nervous. I moved house a few times (during GCSEs) which made revision hard, so I’m really proud with how I’ve done."
Alexia's other grades were 6 In RE, 6 in English literature, 7 in English language, 6 in art, 5 in geography, 3 in Spanish and a 4 in science. She will be studying law, criminology and politics at Cronton Sixth Form College in Widnes.
There was a surprise too from Tammy Ajibawo, who was delighted with her maths grade of a 6. She said: “I was a bit anxious coming in this morning.
"I was so happy when I opened up my results. It was a surprise (to get a 6 in maths). It was the most challenging thing during my GCSEs."
Dylan Johnson and Isabella Hodkinson share their success
Dylan Johnson was “really shocked” with his results. The 16 year-old expected to get mostly 6s and 7s, but ended up with a string of 8s, with 9s in English Language and Maths. He said: “With quite a lot of them, I wasn’t feeling 100%. I panicked that I’d done something wrong. This is really reassuring.
"I got an 8 and 7 in my science courses. I found science really difficult and I never felt like I quite got it but my results turned out fine somehow.
Dylan will study A-level maths and BTECS in musical production and musical performance at Winstanley College.
Isabella Hodkinson was also very happy with her results, including a 3 in Maths, 5 in English language and 6s in history and English literature. She said: “3 isn’t a pass but I’m hoping I can resit.
"I got a 6 in history but was one mark off a 7. I struggle with time and ran out of time in some of my English exams, so I’m surprised to get decent results. I was really nervous, I didn’t go to bed until late last night."
She’s hoping to do English, fine art and classical civilisation at Carmel College.
