WE DID IT!

JOY AND RELIEF AS STUDENTS CELEBRATE GCSE RESULTS

- RAMAZANI MWAMBA

THOUSANDS of students across Greater Manchester collected their GCSE results yesterday. In what is always a nervy time of year for teenagers, youngsters were warned that they face more competition for sixth form and college places by education leaders.

On top of that, this year's cohort have had to deal with a series of challenges, no less, having to study at secondary school during the pandemic.

Yesterday, teachers were eager to welcome back their students and see how they performed despite the odds seemingly stacked against them.

And they delivered. One incredible example is Sarah Al-Amili, from Whalley Range High School. The 16-year-old came to the UK from Iraq when she was just ll.

Starting in Year 7, she could not speak a word of English, but fast-forward five years later she is heading to college with a handful of 9s - which are equivalent to A* and A.

"When l started in Year 7, people would ask me my name and l didn't understand them," she told the M.E.N. "It was really hard at first,"