Lizi one of 12 Colyton Grammar School students to gain 10A* in GCSE exams

ONE of 12 Colyton Grammar School students to gain 10 A* grades at GCSE last Thursday, is Lizi Evans from Sidford.

As with other Year Ten students from the Colyford-based school, Lizi, 15, from King Charles Way, has taken her GCSE exams a year early.

She explained: “They push us to do them a year early to give us longer for A-levels.

“I was hopeful I would do well. I felt some of the exams had gone worse than expected; some were quite hard, but some were really good.

“My parents - Paul and Deborah - were really pleased. I was slightly worried and quite nervous getting the results, hoping for the best and worrying where I may have gone wrong.”

She need not have worried. The only subject she didn’t get an A* in was German and for that she gained an A grade.

Lizi has been at Colyton Grammar since Year Seven, having moved with her family to Sidford the previous year to join Year Six pupils at St Nicholas Junior School, Sidmouth.

She, her parents and two younger sisters went out bowling and for dinner on Thursday to celebrate her exam success.

She will now go into the sixth form at CGS where she will study for A-levels in maths, physics, chemistry and biology as well as business studies and critical thinking.

“I am interested in the sciences and I am thinking about becoming a vet,” said Lizi, who enjoys horse riding and “anything animal related”.

Looking towards her A-level exams, Lizi said: “There is quite a lot of pressure, but the teachers support and help us with bits you might be struggling with.”

Lizi is not yet finished with exams. She plays the piano “for fun and I compose stuff” and sings, and is considering taking her Grade Five music exams in both.

Nearly half of all GCSE grades awarded at CGS this year were the top A* grade.

Now students will now go on to study a broader than normal sixth form programme, including five or more A levels, the English Baccalaureate A-Level Diploma, work experience and personal development opportunities as part of Colyton’s innovative three year sixth form.

Headteacher, Paul Evans said: “It’s pleasing to see that students have taken GCSE in their stride and that they are now ready and eager to move on to the challenge of A-levels in September.

“These GCSE’s are the result of hard work by the students, supported by their teachers and of course their parents, and will compare very favourably with similar schools nationally.

“Every student should be congratulated on their personal achievement and success.”