Pupils at Southmoor Academy celebrate ‘great’ GCSE results

Pupils at Southmoor Academy, in Ryhope Road, Sunderland, opened their results on Thursday, August 20, to find out what their next steps after secondary school are going to be.

One student, Alex Wood, achieved eight 9s, two 8s and one 7 in her GCSEs.

The 16-year-old said: “I did pretty well. I worked hard but I’m shocked I did so well.”

Alex is staying on at the school and will be studying English literature, biology and psychology at its sixth form centre in September.

She said: “I definitely want to go to university in the future, maybe Oxford or Cambridge if I can get in.

"I don’t know what job I want to do yet but these grades have given me a number of pathways.”

Amy Anderson, 16, is also happy with her results, achieving five 8s and five 7s.

She said: “I did a lot better than I thought I would.”

Amy is heading to The Fire Station, in Sunderland, to study musical theatre, with the hopes of making it onto the West End one day.

Ewan McDermott, 15, has not yet decided what he wants to study in September when he starts at Southmoor Sixth Form but admitted his favourite subject is maths.

He achieved one 9, five 8s and three 7s: “I did pretty well. I’m happy with them.”

Fellow Southmoor Academy student Laura Vessele, 16, is also heading to Southmoor Sixth Form and will be studying maths, further maths, physics and computer science.

She achieved three 9s, four 8s and four 7s in her GCSEs.

Joanne Maw, executive head of Southmoor Academy and CEO of Aspire North East, said: “Today we are really impressed with our students. We are delighted with the results that they’ve got.

"We’ve got a great set of results.

"There are lots and lots of happy smiling faces which is the result of a huge amount of hard work by the students and the staff, and we’ve had phenomenal support from parents and families, which together makes the dream work.”