Smiles and tears as thousands get GCSE results

The excruciating wait is over for thousands of West Country students who have received their GCSE or equivalent results.

Year 11 pupils filed into school halls earlier to open their envelopes. Nationally, the GCSE overall pass rate has fallen slightly - but top grades have edged up across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

"The prolonged wait really put me on edge, I'm ecstatic really [I got] everything above sixes," said Tio who studies at Five Acres High School in Coleford, Gloucestershire.

John Cabot Academy student Chloe from Bristol, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes just four days before her first exam, said she was "really proud" of the hard work she had put in.

Chloe's mum, Fern, said the last few months had been "challenging".

"It was horrendous but she has done so well and she's come so far, doing the revision, putting in the extra effort," she added.

Dominik, who studied at Blaise High School in Bristol and wants to work as an embalmer in the funeral industry, said receiving his results felt "amazing."

"I'm shaking right now," he said.

In Somerset, Huish Episcopi pupil William said he was "quite surprised" with his results.

"I'm not the most academic person ever but I did pretty well I think," he said.

"I got a five in science which is really weird because I'm not great at science."

Casper, who also studies at Huish Episcopi near Langport, is planning on doing an apprenticeship to become a chef.

"Eight in maths, I'll take that any day of the week," he said.

Five Acres student Verity said she was happy to see the back of her exams.

"I genuinely thought I was going to fail maths so the fact that I got a seven is just blowing my mind," she said.

"I'm going to Hereford Art College and I'm going to be studying an art and design course. I'm very excited to not have to do any exams anymore and doing the only subject I truly enjoy. "

Lilly got nines and eights in her GCSEs, and has big plans for the future.

"I want to work with the UN and hopefully be a diplomat or something like that," she told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

At Wellington Academy in Tidworth, Wiltshire, 16-year-old professional footballer Julian unfortunately did not pass maths, but said he feels he has "done himself proud" nonetheless.

"I'll go through the academy system and do education on the side, I'll be doing functional skills to help me pass maths," he said.

"If you're doing something you love, they can't stop you but you've still got to have somewhat of an education."

Emily-Grace passed everything she needed to study Applied Law, Criminology and Psychology at college.

Her dad Martin said he was "really happy for her."

"It's just such a long wait and just to see her face and how happy she is this morning it's just everything," he said.

Hannah Whitaker, headteacher at Wellington Academy, said it is "so hard" to be a Year 11 student.

She reassured students who might not have received the grades they were expecting.

"I think it's important to say they are a piece of paper and every single day of your life you're learning," she said.

"It's not the end of the world, every single point in our life is a learning journey."

Mark Bolton, principal of Yeovil College in Somerset, said "something like 80 percent" of young people leaving school right now will progress into one of the more vocational pathways.

"I think more and more families and young people are seeing the value in the kind of career routes that are not going to be threatened by AI (artificial intelligence) or overtaken by automation in some way," he said.

"I mean there's no way AI is ever going to refit a cooker in your kitchen or repair your heating system or make sure the lights come on when they've gone off."

Additional reporting by Chris Lockyer, Dickon Hooper, Steve Yabsley, Jules Hyam and Duncan Cook

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