There was an atmosphere of nervous anticipation at City of Westminster College as students came to collect their GCSE results today. But for many, there was good reason to celebrate, as they discovered they’d achieved the grades needed to move on to further courses.
 

The College offers a core selection of subjects – some as Fast Track options – giving students the opportunity to catch up on education they’ve missed or retake and improve on existing grades. Here are just some of this year’s success stories.

Sisters Sara and Yasmin Hasan, (pictured) 18 and 17 respectively, from Barnet, originally from Somalia, came to the UK a year ago and enrolled at the College to study GCSEs. Today they had a perfect match, each achieving three As and two Bs. Now they are both moving on to A-level courses at the College, taking them one step closer to their shared goal of studying Medicine. The sisters put their results down to teaching staff and a lot of individual study – although it did help that they could revise subjects together. Yasmin says: “These results are better than I expected because I missed a year of schooling.” And her sister Sara says: “I’m very surprised and very happy!”

 

Inus Ali, 33, from Westminster, came to the UK from Bangladesh at age 17 and found it hard to progress because he didn’t have qualifications so decided to improve his career chances by enrolling at City of Westminster College. Now he’s the proud owner of an A* in Maths and two further A grades. Inus says: “I plan to study A-levels – I’m especially interested in Maths – and then gain a professional qualification, possibly in Finance.”

Lorena Romero, 19, from Lambeth, came to the UK from Ecuador four years ago. After studying English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), she enrolled on a GCSE course. Her five B grades are excellent results – especially considering that English is her second language. Her goal is to become a marine biologist and she’s staying on at City of Westminster College to study Access to Higher Education Diploma in Science – an accredited one-year intensive programme that will enable her to apply to university. Lorena says: “I had hoped for an A grade in one of the subjects – I’d say I studied a lot but not enough! I’ve already recommended City of Westminster College to my brother and friends. This place is different. It has a mix of cultures and I’ve learned a lot from the people here, both students and teachers.”

Soumaya Eddridi, 17, from Westminster didn’t do very well at school and joined the College for retakes, hoping to improve her grades. Now she achieved six excellent GCSEs – three A grades and three Bs – and is staying on for A-levels with a view to studying Law at university. She says: “I’m very happy to have had the opportunity to study here. The teachers have worked hard explaining things and helping me to revise and they are very organised. I’m recommending City of Westminster College to all my friends.”

And Soumaya’s advice to other students thinking of taking – or retaking - GCSEs is simple:  “Start working from day one, listen carefully and ask the teacher if you don’t understand something. Most important of all, never miss a class!”