SIXTH form pupils in Torfaen were celebrating and looking forward to their next step after collecting their A-level and AS-level results.
Coleg Gwent’s Torfaen Learning Zone opened this year to become the hub of sixth form education in the local authority, replacing sixth forms at Cwmbran High School, Croesyceiliog School and St Alban's RC High School.
And due to coronavirus restrictions, pupils only moved into their new campus in April – with A-level pupils having done their AS-levels at their previous sixth forms.
The campus saw "over 84.6 per cent of A-level learners achieving A*-C grades," according to a Coleg Gwent spokesperson.
Amy Payne, 18, is off to the Royal Veterinary College in September, after she got three A*s – in Biology, Chemistry and Maths – and an A in Welsh Baccalaureate.
She said: “I've wanted to be a vet since I was about eight years old, so it's nice to know I'll be doing that.
“It was such a relief that I finally know that that's where I will definitely be going.
“The teachers definitely helped, they've saved me in a lot of my subjects. A lot of my teachers came across too - my biology and maths teachers have been the same since I was in year eight at Cwmbran High, and my chemistry teacher was my tutor. I know them all really well and they were really helpful.”
And Amy Morgan, 22, got three distinction stars in her IT BTEC. She's going on to study Computer Science at Swansea University.
“It's been really great considering the last year,” she said. “I was off for most of last year so I have had lots to catch up on. So the results were really good.”
She said she was off to celebrate going out to lunch with her mum and her nan.
Debra Vush, Amy's mum, said: "I'm so proud of her. It's been a hard six years but she's done it now and she's done so well."
And first year students were also picking up their AS-level results.
Tegan Davies, 17, got As in Law, Government and Politics, Media, and English Literature at AS-level.
She said: "I did really well and got exactly what I wanted with four As.
“With covid it's been a bit different. We've had a lot of online lessons but my tutors have really helped me through it. It's been a lot better than I thought it was going to be.
“My mum has helped me a lot and so has my personal tutor.
“I’d like to go on to university and go on to be a journalist. I've been looking at English Literature courses.”
Patrick Seale, head of school for A-levels at Coleg Gwent's Torfaen Learning Zone, said: "We are really proud of the results our students achieved.
"The A2 students have had a difficult journey as they were at schools across the local authority last year and moved here. When we put it in that context it's just incredible. We are really proud of their results.
"This is something we've looked forward to for three years - in the run up to the transition and through the transition itself.
"We have a great tutoring team and the results today are a really great reflection of that. They have come together in just a year, and much of it was in lockdown.
"And the students deserve all the credit. They have had to work harder possibly than any other year.
"It's the start of something here for us. That's the exciting thing."
The remaining sixth form in the borough, at Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw, also saw a prosperous set of results, with pupils now heading off to university in Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and Manchester.
Acting headteacher Helen Rogers said: “Today we celebrate the successes of our learners once again.
“The past two years have been very challenging but our Year 12 and 13 learners have persevered, survived and prospered.
“We thank them greatly for their diligence and resilience, and we also thank their families and teachers for the continuous support for them.
“We wish every learner all the best on the next steps of their journeys.”
The top achievers were Scott Simpson (Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics, Politics and Welsh Baccalaureate) and Tirion Tibbs (Welsh, Criminology, English, History and Welsh Baccalaureate), who both earned five A*s. Scott will go on to the University of Bristol to study Aeronautical Engineering while Tirion is now going to the London School of Economics (LSE) to study Law.
Morganna Davies will be going to study Geography at the University of Oxford after achieving A*s in Economics, Chemistry, Geography and Mathematics.
And Ioan Higgins will be studying Psychology at the University of Cambridge from September after earning A*s in Mathematics and Further Mathematics, and As in Biology and Chemistry.
Other high achievers included Emily Cosgrove, Mali Edwards, Joshua Grimstead, Catty Langford and Robert Lewis, who all got four A*s.
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