STAFF at South Devon UTC have said a huge congratulations to all their year 12 and year 13 students who collected their BTEC and A Level results today, Thursday.

Matthew Shanks, Trust Lead, Education South West,says: ‘The experience for this cohort of students was unique, as this was the first time Y13 experienced formal public examinations, as their GCSE examinations were cancelled due to COVID.

‘We are very pleased to be celebrating some superb achievements with all students gaining their first destination. We are proud that our students are going onto apprenticeships, employment or higher education.

Many of our students reached or exceeded their targets and should be extremely proud of what they have achieved, we are delighted that so many have gained their Apprenticeship and University places.

Overall, the College is delighted. Ms Betty, UTC Lead for Sixth Form, said: ‘At the end of another very challenging year, I am incredibly proud to be part of such an amazing Sixth Form with such wonderful students, parents and staff.

‘This cohort of young people have shown remarkable resilience and positivity to keep working hard in the most difficult of situations. Many of them have coped with huge personal challenges and I am delighted to see them being rewarded today.”

Within our workplace culture, students are now ready and willing to take their places on the world stage. They are confident to stand heads and shoulders with the best and have the necessary employability skills and expertise to flourish in their chosen careers. Best of luck to the next generation of engineers, computer programmers, physiotherapists, teachers, nurses and so much more. The College would like to thank each and every student for working so hard over the last two years and also thank the parents and carers of our students who have given them such unwavering support. The UTC Leadership Team would also like to thank each member of staff for going the extra mile to support our students.

“Congratulations to all students for their achievements. Hard work brings rewards. It is important to remember that these young people had their final years of study set against the backdrop of a pandemic. We all commend them and their teachers for overcoming the disruption and the difficulties to get here. Most students completing their 16-19 studies in 2023 will not have sat a formal exam before this year.

In analysing this year’s results, it’s important to remember that the return to roughly pre- pandemic grading means that these results are naturally lower than those in the three years since 2019.”

Matthew Shanks, Trust Lead, Education South West