Watch as Sunderland College students express their pride in coming top of the results day class

Students and staff at Sunderland College have been celebrating their A Level, T Level and BTEC results.

The college’s top performing A Level student was Emily Pearce who attained an impressive full house of straight A* grades in English Literature, history and psychology.

Emily, 18, who is now heading to the University of York, said: “I was really nervous this morning, particularly when I had the envelope in front of me and we had to wait until 8am to open it.

“When I did open the envelope I just gasped and then shouted ‘I did it’.

“Hearing in the news about grades being down this year made me quite anxious this morning but I’m really proud to have got the highest A Level grades in the college.

“I’m going to study English Literature at university and in the future I would possibly like to go into teaching or journalism.”

Two other students with the highest possible marks were Victoria Rooks and Emily Brown who both achieved triple distinction stars in their level 3 BTEC courses.

Emily, 18, who was studying Sports Coaching and Development, said: “Because the course is modular I had a good idea what my grade was, but I was still a bit nervous.

“I’m now going to go to Durham University to study Primary Education and look to qualify as a teacher.”

Victoria Rooks, 18, was studying BTEC music.

She said: “I was really pleased and proud when I saw my results and my mam was overjoyed when I told her on the phone.

“I’m going to take a gap year and then I would like to go to London to study music production.”

College principal Toni Rhodes was particularly pleased with the colleges T Level results - courses launched in 2020 which combine academic learning with vocational training in relevant industries.

All students sitting T Levels achieved at least a pass grade with Construction and Education and Childcare performing particularly well with  100% of students achieving the A Level equivalent A* to C grades.

Toni said: “Overall we are pleased with the outcomes of our level 3 qualifications and students have worked particularly hard. Our BTEC and T Level students did very well with our grades in vocational and technical subjects higher than last year.

“For many of these students it is the first time they have sat an external exam and what is important now is that we are there to support students who need to go through Clearing.”