Itchen students secure their university places

In the year that the shortage of university places hit the headlines, hundreds of Itchen’s students are celebrating after gaining the grades required to secure their place at university.

Amongst those students was Grant Hanson-Vaux who gained the four A grades he needed to study Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford. Of his A grades in English Language, Law, Media Studies and Psychology, the talented student said, "I'm very relieved. Speechless." His brother and the second of triplets, Myles, opted for employment rather than university, gaining the grades required to work in the accounting firm of his choice. Said Myles, "I'm pretty pleased with my grades, they were what I needed. I studied Accounting, Business Studies, PE and AS Economics and gained grades C, B, B and A respectively."

Student Madelaine O’Brien is looking forward to attending the University of Reading to study Environmental Science after gaining the required As in Environmental Science, Geography and Modern History. Madelaine’s dedication to her studies was recognised by her teacher when she was nominated as the winning student for the prestigious Itchen-BP award for Most Outstanding Student of Environmental Science.

Student Katie Ricketts opted to defer her studies in favour of taking a gap year to do voluntary youth work and to start her own photography business. Katie, who gained A grades in Art Photography, Religious Studies and Sociology, expects a very busy year, "With my youth group, I already have a programme of workshops scheduled with local schools. We’ll be using drama to educate the pupils about matters that may concern them, such as bullying and friendship. The experience will further enhance my studies."

Amazingly it wasn’t only the local students who achieved high grades this year, students Steve Sze and Wing Man Yau, both from Hong Kong, each gained four A grades despite English not being their first language.

September 2009