TEN students studying A Levels at Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in Darlington have won places at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

The students are elated, but their entry to these top universities is dependent on attaining the highest results in their final A Level exams in the summer.

They - and their teachers - are confident they can do it and their conditional offers are spurring the students on to work harder than ever.

Competition for Oxbridge places is intense and only the highest achieving students gain offers after undergoing challenging interviews. Six of the QE students have offers from Cambridge University and 4 have places at Oxford.

Suzanne Goulder, Aaron Hetherington, Sophie Foggin, Ben Donaldson, Cameron Grove and Thomas Parsons-Munn are Cambridge bound. Suzanne will study engineering; Aaron will study law, whilst Sophie and Cameron have offers for natural sciences. Ben’s subject is aths and Thomas‘s degree will be in History.

Malcolm Glennie, Matthew Kirtley, Aidan Marshall and Kat Wingate’s offers are from Oxford. Malcolm will read history, Matthew‘s studies will be in philosophy, politics and economics, Aidan’s subject is chemistry, whilst Kat will study for a degree in English and French.

To have ten students with Oxbridge offers is a tremendous achievement and testament to the high calibre of the students and the outstanding support of their teachers.

Simon Nicholson, who co-ordinates QE’s Oxbridge applications, is delighted with this year’ outstanding success. He said: “This is one of the best ever performances by the College. The students were fantastic, supporting each other and showing tremendous commitment. They really deserve their places and will flourish at Oxford and Cambridge.”