GCSE success for South Essex College students

Students at South Essex College are celebrating after securing improved GCSE results in English and Maths.

Students who took GCSE resits alongside their college course saw their grades improve compared to their school results, meaning they can now progress onto a higher level of study, or secure employment.

Many of the almost 3,000 students who sat the exams achieved higher grades than they received last year at school, with some progressing through two or three grade boundaries.

The exams were also an opportunity for adults returning to education gain qualifications required for employment or further study.

Not only was the day a cause for celebration for individuals, the college as a whole saw an improvement on results compared to last year.

A ‘high grade’ in the Maths (H) paper was achieved by 83% of students – a rise of 16 percentage points on 2018 while the overall pass rate for all papers was up by one percentage point compared to last year.

Zack Short, 18, from Basildon, came to the college two years ago with a U in English. Last year he improved to a grade 3 and this year, after a massive effort he came away with an impressive grade 6.

Studying is not easy for Zack as he is partially sighted and the amount he can see varies from day to day. He explained: “For every one page of text I have 20 pages of braille to get through and I admit that sometimes I felt like chucking it all in. I just said to myself ‘fight through it’, and in the end I got a good result.”

Another student, Andrei Chirila, 19, arrived in England from Romania just two years ago. In that short time he has managed to complete a Level 3 ESOL qualification and achieve a grade 5 GCSE in maths.

The 19-year-old, who lives in Basildon, said: “The college has really helped me. I have enjoyed all the activities, the tutors have been excellent. It is a great place to come to learn and I have made lots of friends.”

Jo Styles, Cross College Manager English and Maths, congratulated the students on their achievements.

She said: “We would like to congratulate all of our students on their success and excellent achievements. It really does highlight the importance of resilience, attendance, hard-work and sheer determination.”

South Essex College also offers English and Maths courses for adults to help them get the grades they need to progress on to courses to gain industry recognised qualifications.

To find out more, visit www.southessex.ac.uk/englishandmaths

ends