Very few of the nervous students collecting their A-level results at Thomas Rotherham college in South Yorkshire are aware that the education secretary, Justine Greening, is an alumnus of their school. They are infinitely more excited that the Leicester City and England striker Jamie Vardy is a former pupil.
All that Jake Vickers knows about Greening is that “she’s a Tory”, although the 18-year-old – who has a place to study law and politics at Liverpool University – says he does not hold that against her. “You’re such a Yorkshire stereotype,” says his friend Connel Plant, who is going on to study international relations at Hull.
Greening, who was appointed education secretary in July, sat her A-levels at the state sixth form college in Rotherham in 1987, before going on to study economics at the University of Southampton. The school, which offers both academic A-levels and vocational qualifications to around 1,500 pupils from across South Yorkshire, is based in a Victorian grade II listed building that was formerly occupied by Rotherham grammar school.
The college’s principal, Dr Richard Williams, says the year’s results have been “in line with cohort expectations”, with an overall pass rate of 97.5% and 77 students achieving three A grades or the equivalent. “The majority of students come from backgrounds where there isn’t higher education in their [family] and they come from areas that have been designated widening participation areas,” he says.
Last year, Greening’s predecessor Nicky Morgan scrapped mid-term A-level exams, meaning that from next year students will be assessed on the whole of their A-level course at the end of two years of study. “It’s the last year of relatively predictable results because it’s the last year where students will be bringing half their results with them from the AS exams, so it’s the end of an era,” says Williams.
It is not a change he welcomes. “I think the [previous] system has worked well, particularly for students who have underachieved at GCSE … Some students perhaps come from areas where there’s quite a low attainment at GCSE, but they then excel at AS.”
Kathryn Newbold got an A* in history, an A* in English literature and a B in psychology. “I’m hoping to retake the B,” she says. “I’ve done better than I could have hoped. I still haven’t told my parents. They’ll be worrying about me.” Newbold plans to take a gap year and apply to study history at university, before training to be a lawyer.
“I’ve got family in Somerset, so somewhere like Exeter or Bristol would be good and also quite convenient,” she says. “If I get an A next time round for psychology then maybe [I will apply for] Cambridge. I’ve also really liked the idea of studying in Scotland, so maybe somewhere like St Andrews or Edinburgh.”
Alex Taylor, 18, got a B in history and Cs in economic and maths. He has a place to study history at the University of Huddersfield and says he is thinking about becoming a teacher, which makes the college principal beam with pride. “Part of me wants to stay [in South Yorkshire], but there’s a big part of me that says it’s probably better to get away from here,” Taylor says.
“In areas around here it’s quite rough and there aren’t many high skilled jobs. There are more high skilled jobs down south. If I could get a high skilled job around here and stay near my family, then why not? But if not, I think it’s important to pursue what I want to do.”
Taylor seems pleased to be walking in Greening’s footsteps: “I think it’s quite reassuring that somebody who has managed to reach that level in their career came to this college.”
