Relief and excitement among students as they look to future

In Gibraltar's schools yesterday, youngsters were abuzz with excitement as they collected their GCSE results and looked ahead to the next phase of their education. 

Even at a young age, some were already clear about what they wanted to do next. For others, the choices had yet to be made. 

Among the students collecting results was Lucas Navarro, who got four 9s, four 8s and one 7 in his GCSEs. 

Although he was “very happy” with his results, he said: “I was hoping for better on Chemistry, but everyone's going to have an exam where they don't do as great.” 

It has been a hard year for him, as it has been for GCSE students across Gibraltar. 

“I think it's very much to do with the workload and the variety of subjects you have.” 

“It's often hard to focus on one, especially when you have weak points.” 

“My weak point initially was English, so I targeted it more, which meant I did better, but it led me to neglect places that were my strong suit, like Chemistry.” 

For A Levels, his “set-in-stone ones” are Maths and Physics. 

“Then, I'm thinking of Geography, Chemistry, if I'm doing four.” 

“However, there may be timetabling issues, so I might be looking to do Further Maths privately and drop one, to do only three inside school hours.” 

Lucas would like to study Aerospace Engineering at university. 

“I want to do a Master in autonomous drones, autonomous air vehicles, or air defence,” he said, adding that his current top choices are Cambridge and Lancaster, as “Lancaster has got a very good upcoming Engineering department.” 

Fellow student Leo Harris also collected solid results including six 9s, an 8, a 7 and a 6. 

He said his focus in the coming years would be on science-related subjects. 

“For A-Levels, I am between Business and Economics, Maths and Computer Science.” 

When it comes to university, he is taking a practical approach. 

“To be honest, I don't think that far ahead.” 

“I don't think about university and stuff. I'll think about it when the time comes, but I'm picking what I enjoy doing right now, and what I think I'd like to do in the future.” 

Anya Ranzetta and her friend Lea also described having difficult moments during the school year. Both achieved excellent results, mostly 8s and 9s, and were pleased with their results at Bayside and Westside. 

English, Literature and Spanish are among their favourite subjects, while Lea will also take Geography at A Level. Anya has a particular interest in ICT. 

For Lea, Art GCSE was particularly demanding. 

“So I would say that took up a lot of my time, so I couldn't really study that much for my other subjects, but it was still a very good subject to do. I enjoyed it a lot.” 

Looking back on the year, she said: “I got very close with all my friends and like I got used to the routine and things, so it was stressful, but with good moments” as well. 

Anya also went through difficult moments during the exam season. 

“I felt like I went insane during exam season, but it paid off.” 

Her favourite subjects range from ICT to English Literature, and she is not yet sure what she would like to study at university, with her focus now on A Levels. 

She expects next year to bring more work, but is looking forward to studying subjects she has chosen herself. 

“It is going to be probably more hard work, but there are subjects that I actually want to do, so I feel like I'll enjoy studying it.”