A student from West Pennard has reflected on his grades after results day and is now looking to the future.

Thomas Hewitt attended Strode College in Street and in his A-levels achieved Biology A*, Maths A and Chemistry A.

The former Millfield School student is now planning to study BSc Biochemistry at Imperial college in London.

He said: "I am very happy with my results as they are better than predicted especially in Biology and so I'm really pleased, especially given the current Covid situation.

"I'm quite nervous about university but I really wanted to get into Imperial College, and it was my first choice of university so I'm really glad I made the grade and am excited about going there.

"I really enjoyed the freedom I had while I was at Strode and really liked how great the teachers were and how engaged they were with the class when teaching.

"I could tell they were happy to be there and always felt they were available on hand for anything I needed help or struggled with.

"I also liked the class structure and how easy it was to access all the resources I needed especially Moodle, which made it easy to catch up on work I may have missed or review what I had been doing in class.

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"I definitely believe I have done better than I would have done if I hadn't gone to Strode, mainly for the reasons mentioned about the supportive teachers. I have been very happy with the entire curriculum at Strode."

Other high-achieving A-level results at Strode included Olivia Hargood from Glastonbury who achieved Economics A, Politics A and History A; and Zachary Fielder from Glastonbury who achieved Economics A*, Computer Science A and Maths A.

The Strode students who achieved a triple distinction star in their Extended Diploma included Ella Chandler from Glastonbury and Amelia Harris from West Bradley who both took a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Business; Leo Harwood from Glastonbury who took an IT Practitioners Level 3 Extended Diploma; and Courtney Howard from Glastonbury who took a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Health and Social Care.

The Government's announcement on Wednesday detailing the 'Triple Lock' approach for the results, means that students can have the option to accept their calculated grades, appeal to receive their mock results instead or sit autumn exams as a third option.

Chris Harvey, Strode careers advisor, said: "Most Strode UCAS applicants have been placed and we are working very closely with a small minority who we are supporting through clearing.

"So the vast majority of our students will meet their firm or conditional offer and with Clearing offers included it is likely that almost all students will be placed.

"We've seen a really interesting and diverse range of degrees this year including Korean and Teaching English; Natural History and Media; Immersive Computing, Chemical Engineering, Construction Management, Mental Health Nursing, Neuroscience and Architecture."

Strode principal Katy Quinn said: "The Triple Lock means that we still haven't got a final overall picture of results for our students and expect that grades will increase further.

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"Students should be proud of what they have achieved and everyone at Strode wishes them all the very best of luck with their next steps."