Young lioness celebrates GCSE results after balancing studies at Sunderland school with playing for England

One of the England women’s football team’s younger lionesses is celebrating her GCSE results today. 

 Emily Cassap, 16, was among those collecting their results from Venerable Bede CE Academy in Ryhope, Sunderland today.

The teenager balanced her studies with serving as a midfielder in the national Under-16s squad, and the hard work paid off today when she collected six 6s and four 8s from her Sunderland school.

Emily has played six games for England, including matches in Portugal and Sweden.

Her next step is Bede College, studying law, psychology and criminology at A level. 

 Headteacher David Airey said: “We are incredibly proud of the achievements of all pupils in the GCSE class of 2023.  

 "Their GCSE results reflect the hard work that they have put into school, and we hope that they are pleased with their achievement. 

"We know that all pupils are ready to move on to the next stage of their education or into employment, and we look forward to hearing about their continued success.  

“We wish them good luck.” 

Among the school’s successful pupils and shown jumping for joy outside Venerable Bede senior prefects Megan, Jack, Andrew and Erin.

Megan is heading next to Bede Campus at Sunderland College to study English literature, law and criminology, while Jack will be studying maths, physic and chemistry at Durham Sixth Form Centre.

Andrew is to study physics, maths and chemistry while Erin is also heading to Durham Sixth Form Centre. 

Venerable Bede CE Academy is part of Northern Lights Learning Trust, which has seven schools across Sunderland, Hartlepool and Stockton.