Adult students excelled in this year’s GCSE results at the College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (CONEL) with more than half achieving high grades in maths.

The college saw 56.8 per cent of students aged 19 or over pass their maths exam with high 9 to 4 grades while 46.1 per cent of adults were awarded top grades in English.

Students taking their GCSEs were sitting exams for the first time since the COVID pandemic with many studying them alongside full-time courses and some without English as a first language.

Overall CONEL saw 30.9 per cent of students achieve high grades of 9 to 4 in English and 30.5 per cent attain 9 to 4 grades in maths with many going on to further study or employment.

Hanieh Damer Cheli, 33, achieved a grade 9 in maths and a 5 in English along with a 9 in GCSE Combined Science. She now hopes to study A Levels or an Access to Higher Education Diploma.

She said: “I couldn’t sleep and woke up at 4am! I was so nervous that I asked my friend to check my results. I was predicted 8 or 9 in maths.  I was expecting a bit higher in English, but I’ve still got good grades.

“My English teacher was fantastic. She was so caring and kind and really paid attention to her students. I felt confident about my knowledge going into the exam. I’m so happy, and I can now plan for my future. This is the first step to university, but I know I can do it.”

Lwin McLay, Kamile Dilberoglu, Mahsa Moradaghay, Besjana Begaj and Habibeh Esmaeil Zadeh all attained a grade 8 in maths.

Lwin, 45, who also completed an AAT Accounting Level 3 Diploma and is now progressing to Level 4, said: “I was very excited when I got my result. My tutor was excellent and helped us prepare well for the exam. He knew his subject and all the topics that were going to be covered this year.

“He gave us all the information and laid out all the resources we needed, and we also did a lot of past exam papers in class. As long as you put in the work and study, you can achieve anything.”

Mahsa Moradaghay and Lwin McLay who both achieved a grade 8 in maths and Andy Brenya who attained a 6 in English and a 7 in maths.

Andy Brenya, 19, gained a 6 in English and a 7 in maths while also studying for the first year of an Applied Science Level 3 Diploma, which he is expected to complete next summer.

He said: “The teaching at CONEL was very good. In English my teacher broke everything down, which made it very easy. In maths they did everything to help me understand and we would have tests every week. It gave me the confidence I needed going into the exam.”

CONEL offers A Levels at its Enfield Centre through its City and Islington College (CANDI) Sixth Form Hub. It also offers vocational courses at its Tottenham and Enfield Centres in Accounting, Business, Construction, Engineering, Creative Media, Health and Social Care, Childcare, Hairdressing, Beauty Therapy, Computing, Music, Public Services, Science, Sport, Teacher Education and Travel and Tourism.

The college also offers a wide range of apprenticeships with top employers across London through Capital City College Training enabling you to earn while you learn.

Kurt Hintz, Executive Principal of Capital City College Group, which includes CONEL, said: “I would like to congratulate all our GCSE students on an excellent set of results this year.

“It is a tribute to their hard work and resilience and the dedication and support of our teachers and staff that they have achieved the grades they deserve. I wish them all the very best for the future.”

Places are still available at CONEL this September. Find out more about our courses and apprenticeships here and enrol today.