A Bermondsey student has secured strong GCSEs despite being diagnosed with Crohn’s disease this year.
Aliyah Chambers, from Harris Academy Bermondsey, has overcome pain, fatigue, and weight loss to secure a grade 7 in Religious Studies and 5s in Science, English Literature and Spanish.
Aliyah said: “This year has been incredibly stressful as I have been worrying about my health and feeling unwell for so long.
“With the support of my teachers and family, I managed to maintain a positive attitude throughout and I am really proud that I was able to take my exams.”
Aliyah started struggling with stomach pains and tiredness at the beginning of the academic year and was struggling to concentrate at school.
By January, she was struggling to eat and had lost lots of weight, eventually leading to a diagnosis of Crohn’s – a condition affecting the digestive system.
It meant having a feeding tube fitted, which she would have in school, and spending a portion of her day in the school office feeding through the tube to reduce inflammation.
This meant missing numerous lessons. But to make sure she didn’t fall behind, Aliyah attended extra revision classes and was supported by her teachers.
Aliyah wasn’t the only student to score strongly in humanities subjects. 45 per cent got Grade 7 to 9 in English lit while 32 per cent got the top grades in English Language.
37 per cent got Grades 7 to 9 in Geography and 38 per cent got Grades 7 to 9 in Religious Studies.
High performers included:
- Sweatha Selvakumar who achieved 5 Grades 9s and 4 Grade 8s;
- Sadia A Tanha who achieved 7 Grade 9s and 2 Grade 8s;
- Roaa K Abusalem who achieved 4 Grade 9s and 5 Grade 8s;
- Maryam Hajji who achieved 4 Grade 9s, 4 Grade 8s and 1 Grade 7;
- Jamila Mudasiru who achieved 8 Grade 9s and 1 Grade 8;
School Principal Gizlé Landman said: “We are so incredibly pleased by today’s results which are testament to the sheer determination, resilience and dedication of everyone involved.
“Our students have demonstrated such ambition for themselves and their futures with some excellent grades.
“This cohort of students have succeeded despite the disruption to their education caused by the Pandemic and today’s results do justice to their exceptional work over the past five years.”
GCSE grades explained
The number scale is not directly equivalent to the old letter scale, which changed in 2014, but this is how they roughly match up:
- The three number grades – 9, 8 and 7 – correspond to the two previous top grades of A* and A
- The bottom of grade 7 is aligned with the bottom of grade A
- The bottom of grade 4 is aligned with the bottom of grade C
- The bottom of grade 1 is aligned with the bottom of grade G
Exams watchdog Ofqual has said grade 9s “identify exceptional performance” and as such, fewer will have been awarded nationally than A*s (pre-2014).