Latest news with #GabrielleMorgan
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Grieving Newcastle teen gets into Oxford after pledge to mother
A sixth-form student has fulfilled a promise made to her mother before she died by securing a place at Oxford Morgan, a pupil at Newcastle's Dame Allan School, said she felt her mother would be "celebrating" after she got A* grades in A-levels for English Literature, Spanish and 18-year-old, whose mother Faustina died of lung cancer in April last year, will take her place at the university to study modern languages in said her mother would be proud of her and had made her promise to "push" herself as hard as she could to succeed. Last year, her sister Francesca achieved A* grades in her exams and secured a place at Cambridge to study natural sisters were both home-schooled by their mother, who was from Malaysia, before joining Dame Allan, an independent school. Miss Morgan 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."Miss Morgan, who speaks English and Mandarin, said she had been passionate about languages and storytelling from a young age and hoped to become 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." Molly Naas, a pupil at New College Durham in Framwellgate Moor, is also grieving her mother. She said achieving a merit in an Early Years in Education T-level was a "dream come true" and she hopes to be a teacher. The 18-year-old from Sherburn, in County Durham, said: "I've managed to pull it out of the bag, I lost my mam earlier in the year and our dream was for me to finish the course. "So I managed to keep going for her and make our dream come true."I've always enjoyed looking after kids, I've always done babysitting. They are all different and hilarious and there's never a dull moment." Alison Maynard, deputy principal at the college, said all students had got into their first choice for university, as well as landing "fantastic apprenticeships" with some "amazing companies". She said: "As you can see by the grin on my face the students have done absolutely amazingly."Some of our students have beaten off 1,400 applications to gain fantastic apprenticeships. "It's not just about A Levels, they are fantastic, but the T Level students have done equally as well." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Glasgow Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- 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.'
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mirror
'I could hear my dead mum celebrating with me when I opened my A-level results'
Gabrielle Morgan, 18, was among the students celebrating - she said she had kept a promise she made to her mum before she died by getting a place at Oxford University A record number of students today celebrated top A-level results across the country - with a new milestone hit for A & A* achievements. But education leaders warned of stark divides in results between different areas of the country. The regional gap widened from 7.4 percentage points to 9.2, with 32.1% of kids in London getting top grades compared to 22.9% in the north-east of England. On average across the UK, 28.3% of entries were awarded either an A or A*, up from 27.8% in 2024 and above 25.4% in 2019. This is the highest proportion on record outside the pandemic-affected years of 2020-22- when the figure peaked at 44.8% in 2021. It comes after Gordon Brown blasted the return of 'poverty of 60 years ago' as he makes one big demand. Boys took a lead over girls in the top grades for the first time since 2018, with 28.4% of boys' A-level entries scoring an A or A* this summer, compared to 28.2% of their female classmates' entries. One happy sixth-form student said she had kept a promise she made to her mum before she died by getting a place at Oxford University. Gabrielle Morgan, 18, who is from Newcastle and who achieved straight A*s in English literature, Spanish and chemistry, said: "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." Her mum, who moved from Malaysia to the UK in her early 20s, died from lung cancer in April last year. Elsewhere Meghan Cotty, 18, from Caerphilly, celebrated two A*s and a B, which got her into the University of Birmingham to study law with business. Megan, who balanced her studies alongside working as a part-time carer, told the BBC: 'It's taken a lot of work and patience but I'm so glad it paid off. I want to be a solicitor so it's a stepping stone to get that. I am just so glad my hard work paid off.' Sam Perret, 18, from Staffordshire, received better results than he thought he would get with his A*AA. He spent 45 minutes on the phone with three universities as he went through clearing but in the end stuck with Loughborough University to study economics. He told the BBC he was going 'straight to the pub' to celebrate. Ucas said a record 439,180 applicants have gained a place at university or college - up 3.1% on last year. The number of T-level entries has increased by 61.4% on last year, while the number of A-level entries has fallen by 0.5% compared to 2024. T-levels are two-year courses, which are broadly equivalent to three A-levels, focus on more vocational subjects and offer a mix of classroom learning and industry placements. While the number of T-level entries soared, stats showed more than a quarter of students in England who started T-level courses did not complete them this summer. However the overall drop-out rate has fallen, with 73% completing the technical qualifications this summer, up on last year's 71%. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson branded yesterday a "day of celebration" for young people who have worked hard and got the results they wanted. She said: "My message to young people is that if you've got what you've needed to move on to the next step in your journey, that's fantastic. But if you haven't there's lots of support and advice that's available, either from your school or college, but also through Ucas.' She added that the "entrenched divide" in outcomes and the lack of progress for white working-class children is "concerning". Jill Duffy, chairwoman of JCQ board of directors and chief executive of the OCR exam board, said: "Regional inequalities are getting worse, not better. The gap at top grades (A*-A) has grown again. London is once again the top performing region and is now 9.2 percentage points ahead of the North East." She added: "These regional inequalities need more attention."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
A-level student fulfils promise to dying mother by securing place at Oxford
A sixth-form student has fulfilled a promise made to her mother before she died, months into her A-level studies, by securing a 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. 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.'
The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
A-level student fulfils promise to dying mother by securing place at Oxford
A sixth-form student has fulfilled a promise made to her mother before she died, months into her A-level studies, by securing a 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. 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.'
