Martin Herda and Nadine Henry celebrate their GCSE results.
Students celebrated another excellent set of GCSE results for English and maths at the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL).
The College saw 58.1% of adult learners, those aged 19 or over, achieve high grades of 9 to 4 (previously A* to C) in English and 62.9% in maths.
CONEL saw an overall pass rate of 95.2% for adults in English and 95.7% for maths.
Among this year’s top performers was Delayne Symister, 16, who achieved a grade 7 in English and maths while on the College’s Key Stage 4 programme for young people who may have had difficulty at school or been displaced through personal circumstances.
She said: “I struggled at school but I’m much better now. I felt confident during the exam but I felt really nervous because it had been such a long time.
“I couldn’t look at my results at first, but now I am very pleased and relieved.”
Other high achievers included Hasan Al Alloush, 44, Nadia Naamani-Rabah, 39 and Shaghayegh Abbasnejad, 19, who all achieved a grade 8 in maths, Sonia Moussa, 47, who attained a grade 7 in maths and Emma Tilley who gained a grade 7 in English.
Martin Herda, 33, who attained a grade 5 in maths, said: “I came here from Slovakia 10 years ago to get a job and met my wife who is a teacher who told me about her job.
“I started a Foundation degree and needed GCSE maths to progress my dream of becoming a teacher, so I’m very happy to have passed my exam.”
Ellice Almeida, 17, gained a grade 6 in English and a grade 4 in maths while also studying a Level 2 Diploma in Public Services at CONEL.
“I feel very excited and a bit numb. I didn’t do as well last year but now I am very happy with my results,” she said.
“My experience of teaching at college was much better than at school. The teachers had more faith in me, and that made me want to work hard and do well for them.”
Top left Delayne Symister who gained a grade 7 in English and maths. Top right, Ellice Ameira finds out her results with Sheila Rai, Head of Scool for English and Maths. Bottom. Jody Carlos De Freitas and Jody McManus celebrate their results.
Nadine Henry, 37, attained a grade 4 in maths and is set to continue studying accountancy at CONEL this September.
“I am very happy with my result because I did not expect to pass,” she said.
“My teacher was like a father figure. If I had any difficulties I could knock on his door and call and he would help me. He was superb.”
Jody McManus, 19, is set to start an engineering apprenticeship with Siemens at CONEL after achieving a grade 5 in maths.
He said: “At school I had little help and I felt I was being left behind. My experience was much better at CONEL. We had a consistent teacher who actually cared about his class.”
According to the latest survey by QDP Services, the UK's largest independent feedback services provider to education and training sector, 92% of English and maths students at CONEL say the teaching on their course was good.
Principal Kurt Hintz said: “We are very pleased our students have produced a brilliant set of GCSE English and maths results this year. This is an incredible achievement given a third of our learners have English as an additional language.
“We have worked exceptionally hard over the last year on the skills that these learners need to gain in order to master the English language. This has proved extremely successful with significant improvements in the number of learners gaining high grades in English.
“I would like to thank the teaching staff for the excellent tuition and support, and of course congratulate our learners on their results and wish them every success for the future.”