A Filton resident who rejected an offer from the University of Cambridge has explained why she would rather study in Bristol.
Anna Arkless, 18, was delighted on August 15 when she learned she scored A*A*A in her A Levels.
Now Anna is looking forward to studying maths at the University of Bristol.
Anna said: "My decision to turn down Cambridge was a difficult one. Even when I thought my mind was made up it was hard to press the button on the UCAS track page."
Anna sat exams in maths, further maths and physics at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College.
She told Bristol Live she was "over the moon" when she received an offer from Cambridge, but a trip to the institution's Murray Edwards College made her think again.
She said: "As lovely of a place it was, I didn't feel like I 'fit' quite right there, and the atmosphere felt very intense.
"As well as this, my decision was based on wanting not just an amazing learning experience from university, which Cambridge would surely have provided better than almost anywhere else, but also my enjoyment and the 'University Experience' I've heard about for as long as I can remember."
Although she had not previously considered studying in Bristol a serious prospect, she eventually found it "made more and more sense".
She said: "Bristol is a much more lively and event-filled city than Cambridge, and I felt like the majority of my life at Cambridge would've been academic, rather than a nice mix of work and play."
Reflecting on her A Level results, she said: "I was expecting, at most, that I got AAB, as I felt the final physics paper didn't go too well.
"When I opened the envelope and saw that I had received A*A*A, I felt incredible.
"All the hard work I put in had finally paid off and I could finally relax knowing that my place at university was secured.
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