GCSE success for hard working Dame Allan’s Schools pupils
Pupils at Dame Allan’s Girls’ and Boys’ Schools are this morning being praised for their hard work after achieving a commendable set of GCSE results.
More than 60 percent of exams sat by Year 11 pupils at Dame Allan’s Schools achieved grades 9 – 7 (A* to A) while more than 40 per cent were 9 – 8 grades. One fifth of all exams this year achieved a 9, the highest possible grade at GCSE.
After months of diligently balancing their GCSE studies with elite sport commitments, talented schoolgirls Lucy, Lillie and Annabelle today celebrated an outstanding collection of results with 15 top grade 9s between them.
The three teenagers, who all attend Dame Allan’s Schools, in Fenham, Newcastle, have each juggled their coursework, studies and exams with up to 20 hours of intense training every week, while competing at a national level in their given sport.
Northumberland’s top junior badminton player and national champion Lucy Dodd, from Ponteland, won two U17 international tournaments and the National U17 Mixed Doubles while in her final GCSE year. She also won a Badminton England senior Gold tournament and was awarded a Rising Star Award by Sport Newcastle.
Lucy achieved an outstanding set of eight GCSE grade 9s and one grade 8.
“I’m really happy with my results,” said Lucy, who earlier this month competed for the England National team in women’s and mixed doubles at the European U17 Championships. “I’m looking forward to coming back to the Sixth Form at Dame Allan’s and focusing on A Levels, in view of then going to a university and continuing with high-level sport.”
During her GCSEs, gifted football player Lillie Quinlivan Coulson, from Wylam, completed a successful season with Sunderland RTC – historically one of the best Tier 1 FA Regional Talent Clubs in the country – with her squad winning the FA National Plate.
The 16-year-old has signed a contract with Durham FC to play with its U21 Pro Game Academy and with Durham Cestria, which competes in the FA Women’s National League, Northern Division One.
She collected a set of GCSE grades 6 – 9 and achieved an impressive grade 8 in five of her subject choices. Lillie wants to study Business, Economics and PE at A Level.
She said:
“At times it has been tough giving 100% to my studies while remaining fully committed to my football, but I always put every effort into doing my very best at both. I’m really pleased with my GCSE results and I’m enjoying a slight break over the summer before shifting my focus to balance my football with A Levels!”
World-ranking Irish dancing star Annabelle Clark continued to train and compete in the run up to her GCSE examinations. In April, she travelled to Montreal, in Canada, to compete in the u16 céilí group category at the CLRG World Irish Dancing Championships and placed second overall.
Four weeks later Annabelle sat her GCSEs and today celebrated an impressive set of grades 7 – 9, achieving top grade 9s in six subjects. She plans to take Chemistry, Biology and History at A Level.
“It was a struggle balancing both schoolwork and my dancing commitments, two things I regard as important in my life. Today, I’m delighted to have discovered that my GCSEs also went well,” said 16-year-old Annabelle, from Gosforth, who started Irish dancing at the age of six.
Will Crewdson, whose life is on a similar track to Darlington-born professional racing driver Jann Mardenborough – the subject of biopic film Gran Turismo, which hit the cinema screens this month – balanced his GCSE studies at Newcastle’s Dame Allan’s Schools with racing in the Junior Saloon Car Championship (JSCC) series.
The sixteen-year-old from Corbridge, who was involved in a serious crash at Pembrey Circuit in May and discharged from hospital in time to sit the Geography GCSE, was delighted with his results, which included an impressive set of grade 7s and an 8.
“I’m happy with my grades after juggling my GCSEs with motorsport racing,” said Will, who joined Dame Allan’s Junior School in Year 3.
“The racing season started pretty much at the same time as exam and revision season really kicked in. I knew I had to make school my priority – this is one of the non-negotiable aspects of JSCC, as a junior series they take that side of things very seriously and provide study spaces and flexibility for all drivers.”
Rookie racer Will, who holds a Motorsport UK competition licence having passed the ARDS (Association of Racing Driver Schools) test, has competed in the JSCC series for the first time this year. With races at Silverstone, Donnington Park and Brands Hatch still to take place, the season hasn’t been a smooth ride.
He explained: “Due to a GCSE exam clash, I had to miss a Friday training practice ahead of the race weekend at Pembrey in Wales. After a great qualifying round, I had a serious crash. It was a racing incident – it happens to everyone at some point – but it had a significant impact, and I knew both my racing career and my school work could potentially suffer.”
Will was forced to miss three races, which affected his points for the season. “I’m gutted, but in hindsight it was probably for the best as it allowed me to concentrate on recovering and exams,” he admitted. “My focus now is on gaining experience ready for next year when I can fully commit and compete… while working for my A Levels!”
Will intends to study A Level Physics, Geography and Business at Dame Allan’s Sixth Form, with a view to progressing into motorsport engineering.
Will Scott, Principal at Dame Allan’s Schools, said:
“Pupils at both the Boys’ and the Girls’ Schools have done themselves and the wider Dame Allan’s community proud with these fantastic exam results. Against the backdrop of a return to pre-pandemic grading, we are celebrating an uplift in the combined percentage of 9-7 grades awarded this year compared to in 2019 and are buoyed by the successes of our hard working Year 11 pupils, many of whom balance their studies with an active co-curricular timetable.”
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