Students at Activate Learning’s Bracknell and Wokingham College are celebrating today after collecting their GCSE exam results.
Congratulations to the 186 students at the Church Road campus who achieved a grade 9-4 grade in their GCSE maths and English.
Overall, 1561 learners across the Activate Learning group of colleges in Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Surrey and our online provision achieved a grade 9-4 today.
Many of the college’s GCSE students are learners who resit maths, English or both, to continue in education or progress their career.
This includes mature students who need these GCSEs to progress in the workplace, learners who may have missed the chance to go to university and want to study at degree level, alongside part-time students who have studied GCSEs in evening classes.
Hannah O’Neill, Group Director of Academic Studies Faculty at Activate Learning, said: “I’m so proud of our learners. Today’s results reflect their determination, hard work and effort and the support of fantastic teaching teams.
“Many students getting their results today have taken English and maths alongside full-time programmes as they resit their GCSEs, while others have returned to secure the grades they need to take up new opportunities while juggling work and home commitments. Every student has been on their own journey and they should all feel proud of their achievements.
“Further education colleges such as Bracknell and Wokingham College exist for moments like this; we help people of all ages gain the qualifications and confidence to move forward, whether that’s into higher education, apprenticeships or straight into work.
“I would like to thank all our amazing staff and our students’ families for their encouragement at every stage. I hope that these results will lead to lots of amazing opportunities for our learners and wish them all the best for the future.”
Shugum Rai, 17, from Bracknell, a full-time GCSE pathway student got the college’s highest grade in maths, achieving a Grade 7. He also got a grade 6-5 in Combined Science. Shugum moved from Nepal to the UK.
Shugum said: “I’m ecstatic about my Combined Science results as I didn’t expect to get a grade 6-5.
“My teachers were really friendly and supportive. They helped me if I ever had a problem. My teachers gave me careers advice about what I could do after GCSEs and what I could do with my grades.
“College provided me with a good learning environment.”
Shugum hopes to do further studies, ideally A Levels in Maths and Physics at Bracknell and Wokingham College.
Aidan Leaning, 18, from Arborfield, a Foundation Tier 4 student, is really pleased with his results. He achieved a Grade 6 in GCSE English and a Grade 5 in GCSE Maths. He’s from South Africa and hadn’t done any exams before.
Aidan said: “I’m really happy and excited! Getting these results opens up the world for me!
“I did my GCSEs in English and maths at college as I want to become an Electrical Engineer, and I needed a 4 for Maths and a 3 for English for the Engineering course as a minimum.
“I came from South Africa. I hadn’t done any exams before. I enjoyed college. Every day was unexpected. I never missed any lessons other than being sick. I was always on time. It was fun.
“Juliette Elston, our Student Welfare Coordinator would pop in everyday to see if I was okay. For English I do a lot of reading which helped. We were recommended YouTube resources for studying and practice. We were offered stuff to do outside of the classroom. My maths teacher, Sandra told me exactly what to do, if I needed to study harder and stuff like that.
“I plan on doing an Engineering Level 3 Diploma at Bracknell and Wokingham College, just need to see if I’ve got a place. I’m excited as it’s along the way to what I want to do in the future.”
Aidan hopes to study an Engineering Level 3 Diploma at Bracknell and Wokingham College.
Nikita Dunlop, 18, from Crowthorne, is a full-time GCSE subject pathway student at Bracknell and Wokingham College, is celebrating her results, including Grade 6-6 in Combined Science, Grade 5s in English and Statistics and a Grade 4 in Maths.
Nikita said: “I’m happy with them. I moved from South Africa to the UK last year and because our school year is different (January-November), I was put behind, so I needed to do my GCSEs before I could do any other education.
“It was difficult to adapt to a different culture, but I got used to it after a while. My teachers supported me a lot. My teachers helped me with my studying and with subjects that I was struggling with. They did extra study sessions so I could get through those subjects.
“I’m going to do a T Level in Health. I’m excited. It’s what I’ve been wanting to do. “
In September, Nikita is going to study a T Level in Health (Adult Nursing) at Bracknell and Wokingham College.
Ngozi Ali, preferred name Rita, 18, from Wokingham, a full-time GCSE subject pathway student at Bracknell and Wokingham College, is really pleased her results, including Grade 6-6 in Combined Science, Grade 6 in English, and a Grade 5 in maths.
Rita said: “I think the results are wonderful despite having one year to prepare for it. For higher maths it’s okay, I expected higher but it’s okay. I expected English as last time I got a 5 in Foundation tier. For Combined Science, it’s really good.
“I think it’s good enough for me to proceed to the next level. It’s relatively okay. I haven’t eaten as I was that stressed about the results.
“I came over from Nigeria, and had tried to do my GCSEs online. I needed to resit my GCSEs to get higher grades for the A Levels I wanted to do.
“I liked that I could easily hire a laptop from college. The teachers were really devoted to teaching us properly.
“They assisted us with past papers and websites. Our maths teacher checked the times we studied and pushed me to study more.
“I plan to do A Levels in Biology, Chemistry and Physics at Bracknell and Wokingham College.
“It’s alright. The facilities and equipment are alright for me to study. They have good materials.”
Rita will progress to study A Levels in Biology, Chemistry and Physics at Bracknell and Wokingham College.
Bracknell and Wokingham College offers part-time GCSEs in English and maths.
Bracknell and Wokingham College also offers one-year, full-time programmes for 16-19-year-olds who want to improve their GCSE grades.
Each programme is suited to a student’s level of grades and a range of subject choices are offered. You can find about the STEP, STEP UP and STRIVE GCSE programmes at Bracknell and Wokingham College on the college website.
Bracknell and Wokingham College offer a wide range of A Level subjects, vocational programmes, Higher Education and apprenticeship opportunities.
This year, the college is providing information, advice and guidance via Clearing sessions at Bracknell and Wokingham College from GCSE Results Day, and throughout the end of August and September. Tutors and career advisors will be on hand to help anyone who is unsure as to what to do next after GCSEs and can also provide advice on funding and other student support services. Book an appointment on our website or contact Activate Learning via 0800 612 6008.
