Students across a leading group of colleges in Warwickshire are celebrating their A-Level and BTEC results.
WCG (formerly Warwickshire College Group) has seen students opening results across Rugby College, Royal Leamington Spa College, Warwick Trident College and Moreton Morrell College.
Royal Leamington Spa College
Royal Leamington Spa College student Isabelle Knight achieved an excellent set of results and is now preparing to head to her dream university.
Isabelle, 18 from Leamington, achieved an A in Psychology, B in Business and Distinction in Applied Law. She is now heading to Loughborough University to study Business Management and Marketing.
She said: “I’m really excited. I didn’t think I would get the grades and the speculation nationally of lower grades was definitely a worry.
“I came to the college because I wanted more independence, it offered Applied Law which a lot of places didn’t and would give me the chance to build my interest in business.
“Covid was quite difficult but we overcame it and to get here is amazing. I’m looking forward to university now and hope in the future to run my own interior design business.
Lauren Taylor’s hard work saw her raise one of grades by two levels and is now set to follow her passion of midwifery.
Lauren, 18 from Rugby, secured an A in Criminology, B in Sociology and B in Psychology – having seen her grade rise significantly. She is now heading from Royal Leamington Spa College to Plymouth University to study midwifery.
“I was hoping to get BBB, so to go above what I expected is really good. I put a lot of work into raising my psychology grade,” she said.
“My place at University was confirmed this morning and it will help me on the way to being a midwife, with plans to specialise in high-risk.”
Julija Zotkina, who moved to the UK from Lithuania four years ago, was “in shock” when she opened her results, which will give her the chance to build a career in barbering.
Julija, 25 and living in Rugby, achieved Distinction in a Level 3 Advanced Technical Diploma in Barbering at Royal Leamington Spa College – having already completed a hairdressing course at the college.
She said: “I am absolutely happy and in shock. My first exam didn’t go as I had hoped and it has been a bit of emotional rollercoaster, but to receive these grades is the nicest news.
“I moved over her because my dad worked here and he loved the place. I’ve been working part-time throughout, Barbering is something that I’m really enjoying and I’m hoping now to get a job and be a star there. I would love to run my own shop eventually.”
A Harbury student who has battled illness during her course has achieved the top grade in one of her three A-Level course at Royal Leamington Spa College.
Daisy Davidson, 18, was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2021 and had to have emergency surgery.
Despite the circumstances, she was still able to achieve an A* in English Literature and a B in Business. Daisy will be returning to the college to retake her Economics course next year.
She said “I was surprised to see the results. I’ve had a pretty hard two years and was in hospital for a long time. I missed a lot of time at college and it was extremely difficult.
“I’ve had to relearn how to live since I was diagnosed in 2021 and had to have surgery. My tutors were amazing the whole time with their support.
“I’ll be heading back to the college to retake Economics, which was effected due to the amount of time I missed, but I’m really pleased with my results.”
RUGBY COLLEGE
The accelerator has been well and truly pressed by Rugby College student Samuel Canham, who has achieved great results that set him up for a career in cars.
The 18-year-old achieved Distinction*, Distinction*, Distinction* in Engineering.
Samuel, from Northampton, is set to begin a three-year apprenticeship at Cummins’ Daventry production facility, making high horsepower engines for the power generation, mining and rail sectors.
He said: “I couldn’t have done any better, so I’m absolutely delighted! Engineering has fascinated me from an early age – and I have a real love for cars and the production process for all of the component parts.
“The course was really good and thoroughly enjoyable. I’ve made some good friends and had some great teachers supporting me.
“I learned a great deal about how engineering can be applied to everyday life, which has benefitted me in my work experience with my uncle’s business MD Electro Mechanics, where I’ve been involved in car restoration, breakdown support and other call outs.
“I can’t wait to start at Cummins at the start of September. They’re widely known within the sector and will be a great place for me to launch my career in engineering.”
Results day was a success for Rugby College student and social sciences enthusiast Wiktor Pawlus.
Wiktor, 17, was awarded B in Psychology and a pair of A’s in Criminology and Sociology at AS Level.
The teenager, who lives in Rugby and originates from Poland, is now hoping to go one step further and get a clean sweep of A’s at next year’s results day.
Wiktor said: “I developed my love for the social sciences whilst at secondary school, where I studied them at GCSE level. I wasn’t sure if the college would offer each of the courses, so to be able to pick up where I left off and study them further has been great.
“I’ve had to navigate some tough circumstances both inside and outside of the classroom, so I’m pretty proud of myself. My teachers really helped me get my desired grades, so a big thank you to them.
“I’m now going into the second year. I’m going to keep working hard and try to better this year’s result, which will be tough, but I’ll do my best.
“The aim is to work in criminal psychology, so I’m on the right track – and am hopeful for the future.”
Second year will bring all change for talented student Emily-Mae Lewis, following a highly successful first year at Rugby College.
Rugby-based Emily, 17, was rewarded for her hard work on her Criminology and Sociology as Level course with two A’s.
She now plans to switch up her college timetable, swapping the social sciences for health and social care.
Emily-Mae said: “I’m pleased with how things have gone and the results that I’ve achieved in my first year. Both courses were interesting and I enjoyed learning the content.
“Despite knowing I wanted to pick up health and social care after finishing for the year, I made sure I had knowledge of the subject and combined that with some well-timed revision.
“I’ve decided that health and social care is the route for me to take with my future career in mind. I plan to see where the course takes me and see what I enjoy. This’ll then help me form a clearer picture on where I go going forward.”
Moreton Morrell College
An agriculture student who came into the profession with no background in farming has achieved the highest possible grade in his course at Moreton Morrell College.
Archie Badham, 18 from Coventry, achieved triple Distinction* in his Level 3 Agriculture course. He is now set to head to Harper Adams University to continue his studies.
He said: “I was expecting to do well at the start of the year but then slowed down a bit, so it was a nice surprise to see the results today.
“I haven’t got any background in agriculture but have absolutely loved the course. The plan is eventually have my own farm but initially be a farm manager somewhere.
“I have a place to study agriculture with livestock management at University, but we’ll see if I decide to take a gap year first.”
Warwick Trident College
An engineering student from Kenilworth is on track to his goal to work in Formula 1 after passing his course at Warwick Trident College with flying colours.
Jack Turland, 18, achieved triple Distinction* in his Engineering course at Warwick Trident College and already had work experience with the Alpine F1 team.
He said: “I thought I’d done pretty well but not quite as well as I did! The results will allow me to head to Staffordshire University to study Automotive and Motorsport Engineering.
“F1 is the ultimate goal and I’ve already had some work experience with Alpine F1 team. That is the path I would like to go down, but whether that will happen is another thing!