Five St James’s Church of England High School student have lofty ambitions following a pleasing results day.

Jonathan Barnes and Joshua Walker both spoke of their relief of completing their exams and finding that they had achieved the grades they had hoped for.

Both are now looking to go on to doing computing related A-level courses with a view to either a degree or an apprenticeship in a similar course.

Jonathan said: “I feel good. I feel like I’m free from school. Less responsibility. I’m just happy with what I got.”

Joshua echoed his classmates’ sentiments, saying: “I’m really relived, I think I’ve done extremely well.”

He added: “It’s quite incredible. It’s a culmination of everything I’ve put in over the past five years. Seeing them and being surrounded by people who have also done well and my family, it really shows that the hard work you put it can pay off. It makes you feel good and you’re proud.”

Opting for a career in tech is a wise choice these days, although the competition to succeed is particularly strong.

Jonathan said: “I’m going to do a computing A-level and then I’m probably going to do a degree or apprenticeship in software development.

“I am debating between apprenticeship or university. It depends on what I get at A-level first because apprenticeships can be quite competitive.”

Others are hoping to achieve high to.

Joella Ishimwe described how she will be putting in more revision, more effort, more determination and more passion in a bid to work for an international organisation like the UN or WHO, while Ibarhim Nino hopes to get into medicine.

Isabella Aspinall’s way with words shows why she is interested in a career in journalism. She does not think that one little number tells the whole story of the past five years.

She said: “It feels really strange. It feels like it’s gone by really quick, even though when you’ve been waiting for this day it feels like it’s been dragged on forever.

“It doesn’t really show how much effort and dedication you put into it. Obviously, we’ve got the marks but also it shows just how close you can come to getting the grades you want and how little effort you would have needed to put in extra just to help you progress that little bit further.”

The future looks bright coming out of St James’s. Collectively, the five students have achieved over 20 grade 9s between them.