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Posted: 15/08/24

College students praised for their A-Level and vocational results

Students at West Nottinghamshire College have been congratulated on achieving the grades to progress to university, an apprenticeship or employment after collecting their A-Level and Level 3 vocational results today (Thursday 15 August 2024).

There were 475 A-Level exam entries at the college this year (2023/24) by 194 students, while 476 students sat external exams and assessments on either Level 3 City & Guilds Technical or Level 3 BTEC National courses.

Students celebrated their results and outlined their future plans after studying at the college.

Complete disbelief was the expression that Alina Petrauska showed as she discovered she had achieved three A grades in business, biology and psychology at A-Level, which took her by total surprise.

Alina, 18, from Mansfield, said: “When I was doing my exams, I didn’t dare to expect high grades as I didn’t want to get my hopes up, just in case they turned out to be something different.

“So the three A grades are a shock really – but a pleasant shock!”

Alina’s next chapter will be heading to university to study neuroscience, either at Nottingham Trent University or the University of Nottingham.

“Neuroscience sounds very interesting and has a good mix of biology and psychology, so I really want to get into this,” she said.

Alina said college life had been a very positive experience.

“The college community is so nice, with fabulous teachers – they’re so kind and professional” she said.

“The last two years have been so good and I made lots of new friends, which I didn’t expect, but I made sure I branched out and connected with people.”

Not many teenagers would stay up until the early hours of New Year’s Day studying and revising instead of celebrating – but that’s exactly what Sophie Orange did.

And now her hard work has been rewarded, as Sophie’s results have secured her an apprenticeship at an accountancy firm.

The 18-year-old, from Mansfield Woodhouse, achieved an A in criminology, A in law, and B in business and is now set to join the Chesterfield branch of BHP as a healthcare accountancy apprentice.

The firm had offered her the position on condition she achieved three C grades – and determined Sophie has comfortably exceeded those.

She said: “I’m really proud. I’ve done better than I expected, especially in business.

“I felt nervous and scared opening the envelope, but when I saw the results everything was fine. I couldn’t help crying with happiness.

“A lot of revision has gone into this rather than doing other things. I cut down my hours with my part-time job and didn’t see my friends as much.

“I always put my revision first and made sure I always came to college.”

Sophie can’t wait to start her apprenticeship in September.

“I knew I wanted to work in the financial sector and I always liked the maths side of business,” she said. “The apprenticeship also goes up to Level 7 so I can get a higher-level qualification at the end of it.”

Sophie received moral support from her mum Terri Withington and five-year-old sister Charlotte, who accompanied her to collect her results.

Terri said: “I knew Sophie would do well. On New Year’s Eve she sat up revising until 2am instead of celebrating!

“I never had to tell her to revise because she was always doing it. She’s put the work in and got the reward.”

A modest Mya Williams quietly celebrated with her mum as she discovered her A-Level results.

Mum Sarah Sedgwick was bursting with pride at her daughter’s grades of A in law, A in her extended project qualification, B in politics and B in psychology.

Mya, from Hucknall, said: “I was so shocked – I nearly dropped my papers, I was shaking so much. It doesn’t feel real!

“I didn’t think I would get these grades. Since finishing my exams I’ve been in a constant state of worry and not been enjoying the summer properly.

“But I can relax now and I am so pleased. I can’t express how happy I am!”

Mya is now set to study law at the University of Nottingham. Her aspiration stems from visiting a university when she was a little girl at infant school.

She added: “I knew from the day I saw a university that I wanted to go and now I’m going to my first-choice university to study law – I can’t believe it!”

Mum Sarah said: “Mya has done so much revision, all day, every day. We all knew she’d do well as she’s been a hard worker all her life.

“I’m glad she can relax a bit now and look forward to university life.”

Mya had a tough journey through college as she experienced ill health and a spell in hospital. She said: “In my second year I had a lot of health issues and was in hospital a lot. I had an illness in my stomach and lost a lot of weight. This impacted on my anxiety levels but I persevered and got through it.

“My plan after the degree is to be a barrister or solicitor. It depends on how I get on and the kind of societies that I might join.

“But I’m so happy to be starting this fresh learning journey.”

With a career change in mind, mature student Kier Hickman took the brave decision to stop working full-time and return to education.

And his decision has been justified, after he achieved triple distinction-star grades (D*, D*, D*) on the Level 3 Advanced Extended Diploma in Information Technology programme.

The 26-year-old, from Stanton Hill, has spent the last eight years working at a supermarket in sales assistant, supervisor and team-leader roles – but has now set his sights on a career in I.T.

“Working in retail during the Covid pandemic made me realise it wasn’t what I wanted to do anymore,” he said.

“I’ve been interested in I.T. for quite a few years so, after speaking with my family, I decided to go for it and do something I enjoy.”

Kier said his grades had justified his decision to go to college.

He explained: “Returning to education as a mature student worked out fine. I was just here for one thing – to get the results I needed.

“I was glad to see I’d done slightly better than I expected. It means I’ve got the best grades I can possibly get and I know that when I put them on my CV, I’ve probably got a good chance of getting a job interview.

“A lot of hard work has gone into this. I worked most weekends and after finishing college I’d go home, do my coursework and stay up until midnight every day, doing coursework or revising.

“I want a career in computer coding or hardware repair and am currently looking for either an apprenticeship or employment, depending on what’s available.

“I’m looking forward to seeing where I can go from here and move forward in life.”

Nerves soon turned to joy as 18-year-old Megan Longmire opened her A-Level results envelope, which revealed an A* in psychology, an A in English language and a B in physics.

The 18-year-old said: “My heart was beating really fast! I’m so happy with these grades because it means I get to study psychology at the University of Warwick, which is my first-choice place to go.”

Megan’s mum Verity and dad Steve accompanied the teenager to support her upon opening her results.

Verity said: “Megan has always worked hard and consistently done her best. She absolutely loves to achieve, so we always knew she was going to do brilliantly.”

Megan, from Sutton-in-Ashfield, also discovered she’s been chosen by the college to receive a Reading List Foundation scholarship that will provide £275 towards her textbooks in her first year at university.

Megan added: “I’ve been fine all summer but it hit me this week that results day was getting closer and the nerves set in. I’m so happy though!

“I’ve really enjoyed college and everyone has been so supportive and my teachers have always been able to put me at ease and answer my questions.

“I’m not quite sure yet what job I’d like but I think it will be something either in the world of psychology or I might like to become an author.

“I’ll have a deeper think as I get along in my studies at university.”

The high-flying financial world awaits Wiktoria Palka now that she’s achieved a Distinction, Merit and Merit (D, M, M) on the Level 3 Advanced Extended Diploma in Business Studies.

The 18-year-old came to collect the results from her vocational programme with sister Alicja, and hugged each other with joy at Wiktoria’s results.

Wiktoria, from Worksop, said: “I had been hoping for these kind of grades, so I am really pleased. My plans can go ahead fully now as I want to study economics and finance at the University of Lincoln.

“Eventually I would love to work as an accountant, dealing with some high net-worth individuals!”

Wiktoria’s two years at college have brought her a lot of enjoyable experiences as well as excellent grades.

She added: “Life at West Notts has been pretty amazing. I’ve met a lot of good people and had plenty of fun along the way.

“On the course I was able to experience a work placement at a recruitment agency, where I worked on client CVs and helping the firm with recruitment duties.

“As a student, it is really important to experience a real-life workplace and it brought out many qualities in me that I can take forward in life.”

Tears of worry turned into tears of happiness when Katie Thompson discovered her A in criminology, B in law and B in psychology were enough to take her to the University of Nottingham to study law, despite initially fearing she hadn’t got the required grades.

Katie, 18, said: “At first, I wasn’t sure I had got in and thought I was going to have to go to a different university or go through clearing.

“But I checked on UCAS and saw I had been accepted, which was a huge relief.

“It’s a massive weight off my shoulders. I went through a lot of emotions in a short space of time but now I’m really happy and proud.

“I revised every night once I got home from college, as well as most weekends. I sacrificed a lot of my free time but it paid off and was definitely worth it.”

The teenager, of Doe Lea, Chesterfield, is now “really excited” to be going to the University of Nottingham.

“I visited the campus and immediately fell in love with it,” she said.

“I’m looking forward to meeting new people and they’ve got good sports facilities so I’m definitely going to try them out.

“I want to be a solicitor so studying law at university will help me towards that. That’s my plan for the future.”

Katie was joined by her mum, Catherine, who said: “I’m so proud of her. Katie worked very hard during the revision stage and put everything into her exams. She often stayed up late, as well as revising early in the mornings before going to college.

“There were revision notes stuck on walls all across the house! She really put the effort in.”

A large smile lit up the face of A-Level student Jack Gackowski who achieved an A grade in politics, a B in history and a B in law.

Jack, 18, said: “This is amazing as I can now focus on going to the University of Sheffield to study a combined degree in history and politics.”

The teenager has already visited the university, which left a positive impression. He said: “I can’t wait to go, join a new city, meet new people and start this fresh journey. I’ve got my accommodation ready and I got a good feeling from the university when I visited on an open day.”

Jack was full of praise for the college, saying: “The teachers are so professional and have taught us well. The sixth-form is a great campus; the surroundings are much quieter which helped me adapt to studying.”

Ambitious Jack has a few career options in mind, which he will decide upon as he progresses on his degree course.

“I’ve thought about becoming a teacher, although I’d also be interested in looking at being an archivist, and then there’s the option of a job in politics,” he said.

“I’ll see which doors open up as I progress.”

Principal and chief executive Andrew Cropley said: “Many congratulations to all our students who have received their A-Level and Level 3 technical and vocational results today after two years of hard work and dedication.

“This gives them a great platform to advance onto their next steps, whether that’s higher education, an apprenticeship or full-time employment, and they all move forward with our best wishes for continued success.

“Not only are students leaving us with valuable qualifications, but they also take with them confidence, pride and a broad range of transferrable skills.

“I’m especially delighted for those who have achieved the grades needed to secure a place at their chosen university, which is testament to the commitment they gave to their studies.

“Heartfelt thanks to our incredible teaching and support teams whose skill, encouragement and patience ensures students have the very best opportunity to succeed during their time with us.

“Staff often go over and above to provide students with the encouragement and motivation to excel, and I’m certain their efforts will be appreciated by every individual they have taught and supported.”

West Nottinghamshire College offers one of the largest choices of A-Levels under one roof in Mansfield and Ashfield. Students on A-Level programmes study at its Mansfield and Ashfield Sixth-Form College, based at the Chesterfield Road campus. The building, in Mansfield town centre, features fully-equipped classrooms, science labs, IT suites, and social and support areas to provide a dedicated sixth-form where students can achieve their full potential using state-of-the-art facilities, underpinned by high-quality teaching.

Vocational courses are delivered at its main campus on Derby Road, Mansfield, and at its construction and engineering centres in Ashfield. Each campus provides state-of-the-art, industry-standard facilities where students gain the skills for careers in their chosen sectors, taught by teachers with industry experience.

Anybody interested in studying at the college should call 0808 100 3626.

Click here to see Megan Longmire open her results at West Nottinghamshire College

Click here to see Sophie Orange open her results at West Nottinghamshire College