A-level student fulfils promise to dying mother by securing place at Oxford
Gabrielle, from Newcastle, secured her place after achieving straight A* grades in English literature, Spanish and chemistry, along with an A* in an extended project qualification (EPQ), and will go on to study Spanish and beginners' Portuguese.
It comes a year after her sister Francesca achieved straight A* grades and secured a place at Cambridge to study natural sciences.
The sisters were both home-schooled by their mother, Faustina, before joining Dame Allan's Schools.
Ms Morgan, who moved from Malaysia to the UK in her early 20s, died from lung cancer in April last year.
Gabrielle said: 'My mum was incredible, strong, organised, inspiring and a person of great faith.
'She supported every interest we had, helped us through our GCSEs and pushed us to work hard.
'She made me promise to keep working hard on my Oxford application no matter what happened.
'I could practically hear her celebrating with me when the offer came through.
'I know just how proud of me she is and I know she helped a lot, even though she wasn't here physically.'
Gabrielle's promise to Ms Morgan carried her through an emotionally turbulent year – including a school trip to Valencia, during which she boarded a high-speed train to Madrid with director of sixth form Karen Fletcher to sit her Oxford admissions test.
Gabrielle, who is bilingual in English and Mandarin, said she has been passionate about languages and storytelling from a young age, and dreams of becoming an author.
'The literary world has always been central to my life,' she said.
'Tolkien is my favourite author – he studied and taught at Oxford and wrote the books that shaped my love of reading. That's why I decided to apply there.'
Gabrielle said her standout moments at Dame Allan's, an independent school in Fenham, Newcastle, include performing Visiting Hours and Supermarket Flowers by Ed Sheeran at school concerts in memory of her mother.
'She loved hearing me sing, so it felt special to sing for her in front of others,' she said.
'Those songs encapsulate what grief feels like.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Rosalía details pressure to define her sexuality after brief Hunter Schafer romance
Rosalía made a rare remark about her love life when asked whether she felt the need to publicly define her sexuality following her romance with Hunter Schafer. When asked if she felt compelled to come out as queer or otherwise, the Spanish singer, 32, told Elle: 'No, I do not pressure myself.' 'I think of freedom. That's what guides me,' she explained of how she navigates dating in the public eye. Following the end of their five-month relationship back in 2019, the two-time Grammy winner and Schafer have remained close friends and, recently, became colleagues. Earlier this year, the amicable exes recently teamed up to shoot scenes for the long-awaited third season of Euphoria, in which is set to premiere in 2026. In 2024, Schafer, 26, confirmed to GQ that they 'have really beautiful friendship' after splitting romantically. 'She's family no matter what,' the actress insisted, noting Rosalía gave her permission to discuss their past relationship after 'so much speculation for so long.' 'Part of us just wants to get it over with, and then another part is like, 'It's none of anybody's f**king business!' … It's something I'm happy to share. And I think she feels that way too,' the Hunger Games insisted. Rosalía hasn't explicitly labeled her sexuality, but has previously been linked to The Bear's Jeremy Allen White and was engaged to Rauw Alejandro. In July 2023, she called off her engagement after more than three years together. Following their breakup, she admitted that it wasn't 'an easy moment' on Instagram after crying on stage at Lollapalooza Paris. Meanwhile, Schafer, who identifies as both bisexual and pansexual, has also dated Dominic Fike and Massima Desire. Schafer appears to be currently single after saying she was healing from her breakup with Fike, who she accused of being unfaithful, last year. While appearing on Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast, Schafer revealed how her last relationship 'fundamentally changed' her. 'I think of freedom. That's what guides me,' she explained of how she navigates dating in the public eye 'You will find cis people who do know and just get it, and that's what was so amazing about my ex-boyfriend, was from the get-go, he saw me exactly for who I was, which is amazing,' she recalled. Schafer continued: 'This is a straight guy who is in the music scene, too, and we're in a public relationship, he's dating a trans woman. He's completely straight; he's only dated cis women before.' During their relationship, the star praised Fike for 'toting' her around and being 'happy to be' her boyfriend to the world, despite the 'nasty s**t' people said about him. 'He didn't care at all. … I wasn't anxious, but I was also head over heels in love and happy to be doing it,' she remembered. Despite his endearing qualities, the performer said her ex 'was not perfect' and he 'cheated' on her. 'He's talked about this, too—in his songs, he writes about it—so it's fine to be talking about it today and it's part of my truth. But that fundamentally changed me as a person,' she said.
Daily Record
3 hours ago
- Daily Record
Ibiza Final Boss Jack Kay looks unrecognisable in old photo before famous hair cut
Ibiza Final Boss Jack Kay went viral overnight for his Lego Style haircut and turkey teeth look but he once had a very different appearance. Ibiza Final Boss Jack Kay looks unrecognisable in an unearthed snap of the viral raver that reveals exactly what he looked like before his distinctive transformation. The 26-year-old became an internet sensation overnight thanks to his signature 'Lego' haircut. His 'turkey teeth' and oversized shades also complete his Ibiza look but his appearance before all of this has now been uncovered. In an old snap, baby-faced Jack is seen enjoying a pint with his pals but, even then, it's not too difficult to spot which one he is. Jack, who went viral for his 'Ibiza bob' while throwing shapes on the Spanish party island, previously sported a short, back and sides haircut which is miles away from the medium skin fade that has become synonymous with the viral star. The Ibiza Final Boss found fame overnight after a video of him dancing brought it over 26M views on TikTok. It's not known when the old snap of Jack and his mates was taken but the Geordie appears to be in his late teens at the time. In another more recent image, his sculpted facial hair is visible and his barnet is longer on top, but it's still not his final Ibiza Boss form, the Mirror reports. Jack has now used his newfound fame to launch nightclub tours in Ibiza and has even been seen filming a brief video meet up with controversial adult star Bonnie Blue. He also has plans to launch a music career to take his fame to new heights after he was featured on a new dance track released on Spotify this week following his signing with a management team. Jack shot to fame when Zero Six West Ibiza posted footage on TikTok of him dancing at a club in a chain and black tank top holding a drink. The footage sparked hundreds of memes and jokes about his Lego style haircut. Dubbed the 'Ibiza Final Boss, a reference to the last and typically most difficult enemy to face in a video game, Jack now has over 120,000k followers on Instagram and more than 800,000 likes on TikTok. However, it's not all smooth sailing for the new star as there is apparently trouble in paradise when it comes to his love life. His glamorous girlfriend Alisha Cook reportedly dumped him on his first Ibiza trip, just days before he went viral. The Newcastle lad is now said to be fighting to save his relationship with the model and debt collector from Co Durham. Alisha was allegedly so angry with her boyfriend's antics in Ibiza that she broke up with him before videos of his haircut made him go viral. The couple have reportedly worked things out since, but a friend of Jack's warned he was 'skating on thin ice' over his party lifestyle. They told the Daily Mail: "Alisha called it off when Jack went to Ibiza with the lads. They'd been together for almost a year and he was living at her place but things hadn't been right for months. "His car is still on her drive, she threw all his clothes in the back of it. She doesn't want him around anymore. She's had inklings that something was not right for a while. She just wants to wash her hands of him. Alisha is so beautiful. No one is quite sure what she saw in him." However, it appears Alisha had a quick change of heart as she's now publicly declared herself as Jack's girlfriend since he rose to internet stardom. In a series of TikTok videos captioned: "POV: ya boyfriend's now known as Ibiza Final Boss," Alisha is seen cosying up to Jack, including clips of him kissing her cheek and the two of them partying together.
Glasgow Times
4 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
A-level student fulfils promise to dying mother by securing place at Oxford
Gabrielle Morgan, 18, said she 'could practically hear (her mother) celebrating' with her when her offer came through to study modern languages at the University of Oxford. Gabrielle, from Newcastle, secured her place after achieving straight A* grades in English literature, Spanish and chemistry, along with an A* in an extended project qualification (EPQ), and will go on to study Spanish and beginners' Portuguese. Sisters Francesca Morgan (left), Gabrielle Morgan (right) and their mother Faustina (Darren Irwin Photography/PA) It comes a year after her sister Francesca achieved straight A* grades and secured a place at Cambridge to study natural sciences. The sisters were both home-schooled by their mother, Faustina, before joining Dame Allan's Schools. Ms Morgan, who moved from Malaysia to the UK in her early 20s, died from lung cancer in April last year. Gabrielle said: 'My mum was incredible, strong, organised, inspiring and a person of great faith. 'She supported every interest we had, helped us through our GCSEs and pushed us to work hard. 'She made me promise to keep working hard on my Oxford application no matter what happened. 'I could practically hear her celebrating with me when the offer came through. 'I know just how proud of me she is and I know she helped a lot, even though she wasn't here physically.' Gabrielle's promise to Ms Morgan carried her through an emotionally turbulent year – including a school trip to Valencia, during which she boarded a high-speed train to Madrid with director of sixth form Karen Fletcher to sit her Oxford admissions test. Gabrielle Morgan receives her A-level results at Dame Allan's Schools (Owen Humphreys/PA) Gabrielle, who is bilingual in English and Mandarin, said she has been passionate about languages and storytelling from a young age, and dreams of becoming an author. 'The literary world has always been central to my life,' she said. 'Tolkien is my favourite author – he studied and taught at Oxford and wrote the books that shaped my love of reading. That's why I decided to apply there.' Gabrielle said her standout moments at Dame Allan's, an independent school in Fenham, Newcastle, include performing Visiting Hours and Supermarket Flowers by Ed Sheeran at school concerts in memory of her mother. 'She loved hearing me sing, so it felt special to sing for her in front of others,' she said. 'Those songs encapsulate what grief feels like.'
