Students at Activate Learning’s Banbury and Bicester College are celebrating today after collecting their GCSE exam results.
94.4% of students taking full-time GCSE programmes or standalone maths and English GCSEs at the Broughton Road Campus achieved a pass in this year’s exams.
- 95.1% of students sitting their GCSE English passed
- 93.8% of students sitting their GCSE maths passed
Many of the college’s GCSE students are learners who resit maths, English or both, to continue in education or progress their career.
This includes mature students who need these GCSEs to progress in the workplace, learners who may have missed the chance to go to university and want to study at degree level, alongside part-time students who have studied GCSEs at evening classes.
Hannah O’Neill, Group Director of Academic Studies Faculty at Activate Learning, said: “It takes great commitment to succeed in GCSE exams, from both learners and teachers. I would like to congratulate all learners on their achievements and wish them the best of luck in their subsequent endeavours. I also extend my thanks to our wonderful teachers and support staff, who work tirelessly to inspire and support every individual, with our Learning Philosophy consistently at the forefront of their practice.
“It is worth noting that our GCSE learners come to us for a multitude of reasons, but all display great courage in doing so. Whether they are adult learners returning to education to boost their confidence, skills or employment opportunities, or young people hoping to improve on what they achieved at school so they can reach their goals, every individual student deserves recognition for their commitment to learning. It is a pleasure for us to be a part of their journeys.”
Abena Kokuro achieved a Grade 7 in her GCSE Maths online programme and a Grade 6 in her GCSE English online programme.
Abena said: “I have seen my results online and I’m very pleased with them.
“I’m very grateful for my tutors and thank them for all their support over the last year. I would certainly recommend the colleges and the GCSE online courses to other people.”
Abena will now start an Access to Medicine programme.
Kerrie Wood achieved a Grade 6 in her GCSE English online programme and a Grade 6 in her GCSE Maths online programme.
Kerrie said: “I am over the moon with my results, I am really pleased.
“I’d like to say to my teachers, thank you so much for all of your support and enthusiasm!
“I would absolutely recommend the college to others for studying their GCSEs. I think that anybody who didn’t achieve a pass at maths and English should go for it no matter how old they are or where they are in life. I’ve had fantastic tutors and excellent support throughout.
Kerrie will now go on to study her remaining GCSE qualifications and plans to apply to flight school to finish her commercial pilot training next summer.
David Rowley achieved a Grade 7 in his GCSE Maths online programme.
David said: “I’m happy with my result. I am probably not in the same situation as the other candidates, I am just doing it to try and help my two kids, one is 14 and one is 11 and I found I wasn’t able to help as well as I should be able to with their maths. I wanted to relearn it; it’s all changed since I was at school.
“The course was all online with my tutor, Inna. I did try hard but it’s such a compressed course and when you get to my age, it’s hard to keep everything in your head.
“I’d recommend studying online with the college. Getting going was a little overwhelming at first but once it started and I was familiar with it, it was fine. Lots of information, everything you could want really.
The teachers were brilliant. Inna was brilliant and was always available via email if you got stuck, she was a really good teacher.”
David is now considering further advanced study and hopes to enrol on another flexible online study programme.
Georgina Demeter achieved a Grade 7 in her GCSE English online programme.
Georgina said: “I am very happy with my results and would definitely recommend studying GCSEs online via the college.
“I am so grateful to Deb, who was my English online tutor, and I would like to thank her for her dedication in helping all of us on the course, her patience and understanding and always being helpful.
“I have had such a great experience studying English GCSE online; especially, as English is my second language. I loved all the lessons and the atmosphere. I would do it again without question.”
Georgina has no immediate plans but hopes to use her grades to study a psychology degree in the future.
Aaron Garrard achieved a Grade 6 in his GCSE English programme and a Grade 4 in his GCSE maths programme.
Aaron said: “I am feeling good about my results, and I’d recommend the programme to others, the teachers were really good and supportive. It was really helpful to practice past papers.
“I was able to achieve a Grade 6 in English and a Grade 4 in maths, thanks to my wonderful teachers I was able to accomplish this, and I would like to say thanks to all of them for helping me and supporting me through my exams.”
Cheri Ashby, Deputy Chief Executive of Activate Learning, said: “At Activate Learning we have thousands of students receiving their GCSE English and maths results which will open so many opportunities for further study, employment, or career progression.
“Many of our students come to us each year often lacking in confidence and self-belief having not always achieved the grades they are capable of, and this is still particularly true of these learners who experienced massive disruption caused to their learning by the pandemic.
“Which is why I’m delighted to see that as a group we’ve see 576 of our learners improve on their previous grade in English and 642 learners improve on their grade in maths across our group of colleges.
“This year we had more learners coming to us at the lower end of the grade boundaries, who were in need of a grade 4 to progress onto their next opportunity. Through our dedicated approach to teaching and learning, where students receive wrap-around support from staff who work with them individually, building their confidence, developing their knowledge and skills through our Learning Philosophy-based teaching. This is then supplemented with a range of online and AI-assisted technology. Our unique approach to learning enables our students to flourish and achieve the grades to which they aspire.
“On behalf of our Educational Leadership Team, I would like to offer our thanks and appreciation to all our committed teachers and college staff on today’s GCSE achievement and wish our students the best of luck in the next stage of their journey at Activate Learning or beyond.”
Banbury and Bicester College offer part-time GCSEs in English and maths. The college also offers a variety of vocational programmes, Higher Education and apprenticeship opportunities.
This year, the college is providing information, advice and guidance via bookable Clearing sessions at Banbury and Bicester College from GCSE Results Day, and throughout the end of August and September. Tutors and career advisors will be on hand to help anyone who is unsure as to what to do next after GCSEs and can also provide advice on funding and other student support services.
