Two years of hard work, late night revision sessions and additional workshops have resulted in smiles and celebrations as Nelson and Colne College students collected their A Level results.

The College once again achieved outstanding results, with a 99.7% pass rate and a number of students heading off to various Russell Group universities – the best in the country. On top of that, 96% of students achieved at least one A*-C and 79% of students achieved at least one A*-B.

Students were invited in to celebrate the occasion on results morning with family and friends at a special leavers’ breakfast and tears of joy, cheers of delight and proud smiles filled the College Refectory as envelopes were opened.

One of those who faced an anxious wait was former Park High School student Anna Stephenson, 18, from Colne.

But when the results came through, she was celebrating achieving an A*AA in English Literature, French and History and has secured an amazing place at the University of Cambridge to study Modern and Medieval Languages.

Anna said: “I’m really pleased with my grades. You get an option to choose two languages and I’ll be studying French and Italian. I really enjoy learning languages and I think it is an area where the country has a lack of qualified people.

“NCC definitely prepares you well for University as you develop independence here and the teaching and support is of outstanding quality.”

Another student thrilled at receiving his results was Jamaal Iqbal, 18, from Nelson.

Jamaal, former Head Boy at Ss John Fisher and Thomas More RC High School, achieved A*A*A in Drama and Theatre Studies, English Language and English Literature and is heading off to the University of Manchester to study English Language.

While at NCC, Jamaal has taken advantage of a number of extracurricular opportunities to give him the best chance of getting where he wants to be in Higher Education and beyond, which is a career as an actor or in the media as a journalist or news anchor.

This includes completing one of NCC’s unique Pre-Professional Programmes in Journalism as well as a television presenting course and work experience at SDMC Studios and the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.

Jamaal said: “I’m pleasantly surprised, especially as I achieved higher than the entry requirements and my predicted grades! I’m excited to start University now – Manchester is such a cosmopolitan city.

“Many people who work in the media and journalism have degrees in English, so I think this degree will help me with my career aspirations.

“I have had excellent teachers at NCC who know their subjects well and go out of their way to help. I have also made some incredible friends who I hope to stay in contact with after University.

“I would definitely recommend the College to others. Everyone knows that it is an outstanding College and the students here have great educational success.”

Nelson and Colne College, rated Outstanding by Ofsted since 2008, is the top College in the country for learner achievement, based on the National Achievement Rate Tables published by the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Statistics published by the Department for Education also place NCC as the top College in Lancashire for A Levels and the top College in the area for Vocational courses, based on progress scores, while it is the top College in Lancashire for student satisfaction.

Nelson and Colne College’s School Leaver Enrolment Event is taking place on Thursday 24th August from 9am-5pm. Students need to bring along their GCSE results to enrol.

For more information about Nelson and Colne College contact 01282 440272 or visit www.nelson.ac.uk