Aug 18 - Record Number Of Gibraltar Scholars As A-Level Results Were Issued Today
This year, 15 pupils were named Gibraltar Scholars after achieving three A grades or higher for their A-Level results today, more than double from last year.
Students from Bayside, Westside and the Gibraltar College will be celebrating tonight as they collected their results as from 8am this morning.
This year’s A*-E pass rate was 96% and remained the same as las year, and the pass rate for A* - B was up 3% on last year.
Overall, results have remained stable over the last years despite much talk of changes to the examination system.
Alaee Ziani, 18, from Westside School, received three A*’s for Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics. She will be going to Durham University to study Biomedical Sciences.
She said: “It is amazing and I am over the moon. I am so happy. The exams were tough, especially just going in and doing exams over and over again was tough but I managed to get through them.”
Jade Perez, 18, will be going to the University of Exeter to study English Literature after achieving an A* in English Literature, an A for Mathematics and Physics, and was still waiting for her ICT result.
She said: “I’m so happy that all the hard work paid off. I was speechless when I opened my results envelope, I put so much time and effort into it and was just so happy.”
Jan Azzopardi, 21, received three A’s for Further Maths, Maths and ICT, sitting two years of Further Maths within a year. He will be going to University of Strathclyde to study Computer Science.
He said he is looking forward to moving to a new city and the whole university experience when he goes off to study next month.
“It’ll be a massive change but it will be fun,” he adds.
At the College of Further Education, Luke Buxton, 18, and Kyle Thom, 18, picked up their AS-Level results today.
Both friends study Travel and Tourism, and are looking forward to continuing with the subject when the school term starts in a few weeks' time.
There’s been a rise to 40% in A* - B grades among Westside School pupils and the overall pass rate has remained at 96%.
Headteacher Michelle Barabich said: “We’ve got exceptional stories today, we have seven Gibraltar Scholars given the difficulties and the new courses.
“We also have one non-native speaker who came to Gibraltar five years ago and has walked away with good grades in the three sciences.
“We have these stories of girls perservering and of girls going beyond their limits and our predictions, and working very hard. They are driven, they are motivated and credit also needs to go to the teachers.”
Mrs Barabich and Bayside School headteacher Michael Tavares said that despite the exams getting harder and the changes to the curriculum, credit had to go to their teaching staff who are committed to their pupils.
Mr Tavares, who took over this post from former headteacher Colin Skinner in the last academic year, said: “The boys have done exceptionally well, and we’ve maintained standards of a 97% pass rate for A* - E grades.
“More students are staying on to do their A-levels so the ability range is wider and we have to cater for all those abilities as teachers as well.
“We can’t just celebrate those students who gained A*’s and A’s but there are many boys who worked to the best of their abilities gaining D’s and E’s which will ensure they can still go to university, so I’m very happy for them.”
Principle Leon Abecasis from the College of Further Education said there was a 92% pass rate for A-Level students at the College this year, up from 91% from last year, and an 8% increase for AS-Level results for students.
He said: “We are very pleased with the results. We are very happy and from the reactions we have been getting, it seems to be good news all around.
“One thing people have to remember is that behind the students’ success is the dedication from a very professional team of teachers who have put in a lot of work over the year to make sure that the students are up to scratch – a lot of pushing and encouragement, and I want to congratulate students on their success and thank all my colleagues because it is a joint effort between them.”
Minister for Education Gilbert Licudi expressed his satisfaction with the results and wished to congratulate both students and teachers on their hard work and efforts.
Minister Licudi added: “In these times of constant changes to curricula and exams, it is very encouraging indeed to see Gibraltar students continuing to perform to the very high standards that we have become accustomed to.
“An important feature this year is that we have improved in the top A*-B category by 3%, which means we have many more Gibraltar Scholars getting three A’s and more. Last year we had six Gibraltar Scholars, this year we have 15.
“This year there are many more university places than ever before, so many more students will find the opportunity to go to study, and certainly we’ve seen many happy faces around the schools this morning.
There is, however, never any room for complacency and we will continue to work with schools and teachers to improve in any area where a weakness might be identified.”
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