It’s good news for students at Capital City College

IT was crunch time for hundreds of teenagers across Islington who ripped open their A-level results yesterday (Thursday) after a nervy summer wait.

Highbury Grove students, from left: Atif Miah who will study geography at King’s College London; Ashley Kassanda is to take a degree in computer science at City University; Felix Noble is off to study physics at Warwick University and Abbas Jwany (far right) will be studying computer science at Queen Mary University of London

Those of us who left school long ago can look back now and say it doesn’t really matter what grades you get, but for teenagers opening their envelopes it can feel like the culmination of their life’s work.

Highbury Fields students, from left: Lucy achieved three A*s and an A; Christina was awarded four As; and Shahana received an A and two Bs

The mood was one of excitement and relief when the Tribune arrived at Highbury Grove sixth form shortly after 8am to talk to pupils about how it all went. Parents and teachers hovered to congratulate or comfort.

Celebrations at St Aloysius College

Students had secured their grades for degrees at Warwick, King’s, City, Queen Mary and beyond – a particularly sweet achievement for Lola Thompson, off to do architecture at Sheffield, who managed to ace her BTEC exams with distinctions despite only learning English in Year 9 when she moved here from China.

Highbury Grove student Raya Yaneva, left, will take up an architecture apprenticeship; and Lola Thompson will now study architecture at the University of Sheffield

It was similarly joy and heartbreak at Highbury Fields, St Aloysius, Capital City College and other colleges across Islington as sixth formers everywhere got their results.