A-LEVEL students at Okehampton College ‘coped admirably’ with the added pressure of having to take all their exams in one go, said principal Derrick Brett as students came to collect their A-level results at the college last Thursday morning.

He said that ‘yet again’ the Year 13 students from Okehampton College had gained exceptional results in their A-level, BTEC and other vocational courses.

They are the first year group to have had to take all their exams at the end of the upper sixth but he said they had ‘coped with this added pressure admirably’.

Among the top performing students was Emily Rowlands, one of two students who achieved three A* grades and is now going to Bath to study natural sciences.

Also celebrating, with parents Nick and Sarah, was Molly Marvin who gained two A* and one A grade and is off to St Andrews to study international relations.

In addition a number of students all gained a sweep of A* and/or A grades. They were Ellie Todd-Jones, Lauren James, Jemma Young, Livvy Rubbra and Tom Magowan.

Elsa Frangleton and Harriet Wingfield-Digby also achieved excellent grades and achieved an A* as part of their results. Elsa, who took four A-levels, including further maths, is off to Birmingham University to study English.

College post-16 leader and assistant principal Neil Sproats said: ‘This is another excellent set of results. The students have equipped themselves superbly to deal with programmes that are now largely assessed through end of course exams.

‘I am delighted to see that so many of our youngsters are now able to access the next stage of their journey whether that be university, apprenticeships, employment or other types of further education. We have students going across the country to highly regarded universities including St Andrews, Durham, Manchester, Warwick, Bristol, Birmingham, Bath and Nottingham to name a few.’

Principal Derrick Brett said the college had seen an increase in the number of students sitting A-level/BTEC courses and from 274 course entries 59.12% of these resulting grades were either an A*, A or B. 

He said: ‘I am thrilled to see so many happy students who are rightly absolutely delighted with their results.

‘This is the culmination of their time at Okehampton College and to see the fruits of their efforts is fantastic. Education has changed hugely during their years with us but the effort, determination and ability of this year group is clear for everyone to see. I wish everyone all the very best for their next steps and look forward to hearing about their future successes.’