COLA Highgate

THE Ministry of Sound nightclub queue was expected to be unusually long last night (Thursday) as hundreds of teenagers from across Islington celebrated receiving their A-level results.

Before the main event, however, the 18-year-olds headed to their schools and colleges for the last time to pick up their grades.

At St Aloysius in Highgate, there were smiles all round, with 75 per cent of students having achieved A*-C grades and 60 per cent receiving an offer from a Russell Group university.

Mayan Maheswaran, who received A*A*A in Maths, Physics, and Chemistry, is heading to Imperial College London, and hopes to pursue a career in AI robotics.

Central Foundation

Meanwhile, Samuel Lartey aced his Business BTEC, receiving D*D*D, and will now study Accounting and Finance at the University of York.

Mr Lartey described his mother, a ward hospital nurse, as instrumental to his success. “I can get stressed easily, but the support of my mother and my teachers helped me a lot,” he said.

Maeve McAllister

Across the borough, at Highbury Grove, pupils were also talking about their plans for September, after receiving the grades that would determine the next steps.

Maeve McAllister described the day as an “emotional roller coaster” after first thinking she had missed her offer and would have to go through clearing. In the end, her A*BB were enough for her to follow in her mum’s footsteps and take up a place to study English at the University of Nottingham.

Ayman Rashid and Salah Kazira

She said: “I opened the email this morning and I hadn’t met the offer. I checked my email and nothing had come through so I was really stressed. Then I came into school and realised that I had been accepted anyway. I was so relieved and it’s nice because I’m now taking a year out knowing that I’ll be in Nottingham next September.” Ms McAllister added that she is now on a job hunt so she can finance theatre trips around Europe during her gap year.

Adelin Drayton, Wiktoria Anna Fialkiewicz and Evie George Dooley

Her classmate, Rohan Deb, said he was “very happy” with his results of BBB and will now study fine art at the University of the Arts London.

Sara Crispin, Yogeshwari Srinivasan and Michael Martinez

The cohort at City and Islington College were equally pleased. Evie George Dooley told the Tribune she “literally started crying” when she found out she had been accepted to Bristol to study Geography, while her friend Wiktoria Anna Fialkiewicz said she was on the road to achieving her childhood dream of becoming a detective after being accepted onto a police constable apprenticeship.

Rohan Deb

Celine Mauris-Blanc, the head of sixth form at St Aloysius praised the entire cohort, citing how many were still coping with the consequences of the Covid pandemic.

Mayan Maheswaran

“It destabilised them,” she said. “They came back after the pandemic and it was like it never happened, so we had to put in a lot of work to make sure they had a bright future.”

Samuel Lartey

Council schools chief Councillor Michelline Safi-Ngongo said: “Results day is also a time to reflect on next steps and what the future holds. Our Progress Team, a dedicated team of careers advisors, are on hand for anyone who’d like to see what their options are, including job opportunities and further training. They are a vital part of our commitment to ensure every young person has the best start in life and is given every opportunity to thrive.”