Nerves and joy as GCSE results roll in

Jessica said she wanted to go "all the way" in proving herself

A nerve-wracking wait for exam results has finally come to an end for thousands of West Country students.

Year 11 pupils filed into school halls to find out how they fared, with more than 5.6 million grades issued across the country. Nationally grades were slightly down on 2024, with grading returning to pre-pandemic standards.

Among the excited pupils was Bridgwater Academy student Jessica, who uses a wheelchair and told the BBC she had chosen to pursue a sports studied GCSE "because I really like proving people wrong".

She said it was a "struggle" to find the right sports that were allowed as part of the GCSE assessment, but that did not stop her from achieving top marks.

"I had a couple of people say that they didn't think I'd be best suited for the subject and that just made me all the more determined to do it," she said.

"I worked incredibly hard because if I was going to prove them wrong I was going to do it all the way," she added.

Tadiwa (left) and Edwina (right) were among thousands of students receiving their grades on Thursday

Over in Gloucestershire, Gloucester Academy pupils Edwina and Tadiwa said they were "just so happy" with their results.

Having both joined in Year 9 after moving to the UK from South Africa and Italy respectively, said that preparation for their exams was "very different" to what they had seen in their former schools.

"There was a cultural and a language barrier, which was so different, but I felt so welcome and honestly I wouldn't have been able to do it without my teachers so I'm really happy," Edwina said.

Katie (left), Devyn (second left) Harry (second right) and Zachary (right) picked up their results in Bristol on Thursday morning

Their joy was echoed by 16-year-old Katie, who received her results at Sir Bernard Lovell Academy in Oldland Common, Bristol.

She said she hoped to go to Hartpury College to study a Level 3 National Extended Diploma in football, adding: "There's lots of options and careers paths in it, whether it's playing, coaching, analysis or the business side of it."

Meanwhile classmate Devyn said she was planning to do an apprenticeship in technical engineering, having been inspired by the growing movement for women on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

"It's so important," she said, adding that her parents were "so impressed" by her results.

Despite "a lot of stress" Taylor said she had managed to get a step closer to her dreams of being a doctor

And after achieving top marks in her exams at the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy in Wiltshire, Year 11 pupil Taylor said she felt a step closer to her dreams of becoming a doctor.

"[It was] a lot of revision, a lot of stress but it all paid off in the end," she said.

"It's nerve-wracking, not knowing what you're going to get but I did really well and I'm really proud of myself."