As the students who received their results on Thursday will attest, doing your A-levels can be a difficult and stressful affair. But there was joy for some students who had overcome big hurdles to achieve success.
Jacob Lewis, 22, became homeless in the run-up to his exams, but despite holding down a full-time job in a nightclub and sofa-surfing throughout his final year he managed to get grades good enough to take him to Cambridge to study law.
Lewis, from Coleg y Cymoed, near Pontypridd, will become the first person from his family to go to university when he takes up his place, reported Wales Online. He originally left school at 17, but went back to college aged 20. On Thursday he walked out with four A*s, including 100% in history and law, after spending 12 hours a day in the library.
“It’s been a hard fight,” he said. “At the start of this year, I was working 24 hours a week to support my studies and make ends meet. I was barely eating. At one point I became homeless and had to start sofa surfing. Having a permanent home with my family wasn’t an option.”
A hardship fund grant from Coleg y Cymoedd provided a lifeline, helping cover his travel costs and a B&B during his exams. “It’s an honour and privilege to attend Cambridge and that’s the same no matter your background,” he said. “No one has a god-given right to be there – it’s on merit and I really deserve to be there.”
Another student who showed extraordinary mettle was 18-year-old Georgina Morris, who achieved the grades she needed to become a doctor – inspired by her father who died of cancer while she was studying. Morris, who studied at Winstanley College, near Wigan, said the death of her father, Stephen, had made her decide she wanted to give something back to those who had helped him. “It is what I have been working so hard for and I feel elated that I have managed what my dad always told me I could do,” she said. “I feel like I would be making him proud. I’m ecstatic, I still don’t think it has sunk in.”
Benenden boarding school for girls in Kent, the inspiration for Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers, was championing the success of Amber Donovan-Stevens, who became its first head girl to attend the £35,000-a-year school on a full trust. Donovan-Stevens, who became a ward of a staff member at the school, said she had been “brought up” by the institution and credited the support she was given for helping her achieve two A*s and an A. “Thanks to the school I’ve got more confidence than I’ve ever had in my life – I’ve come a long way, and there’s a long way to go.”
But amid the joy – there was also heartache. Hassan al-Sherbaz, 18, celebrated achieving four A*s but also faced not being able to take up his offer to study chemical engineering at Imperial College, after disputes over his immigration status.
Al-Sherbaz has been refused a student loan even though the Iraqi-born teenager has lived in Milton Keynes for nine years, with indefinite leave to remain. Despite knowing at the start of year he would not get funding he was determined to enjoy his results. “I was very motivated to prove myself that I can get through this,” he said. “I wanted to show I could achieve my results with all the unique challenges that I faced, which thankfully lead to a successful outcome.”
