Dyslexic shows it doesn’t have to spell failure

Nick Moore, 16, of Barnard Castle, was also one of two pupils at his school who had been spurred on by their siblings’ success at A-level.

Just a week after their older brothers secured stunning A-Level results at Barnard Castle School, Nick and Fiona Matthews followed suit with an A class performance in their GCSEs.

Fiona, 16, of Cotherstone, achieved seven A*s and three As, although she was unable to collect them in person as she is working on an elephant reserve in Africa.

Her brother Calum, 18, celebrated last week after recording a 100 per cent pass rate in his four A-levels, securing a place at Trinity College, Oxford, to read classics.

Nick’s brother Chris is preparing to go to Manchester University to read physics after achieving a D1 in Pre-U physics, A* in mathematics and As in further mathematics and chemistry.

He said: “Chris does spur me on. Being my older brother means I have something to live up to and I try and match what he does.”

The school’s top performer and song-writer Lizzie Knight had something to sing about yesterday as she secured 10A*s.

Rugby player Charles Etchells could not believe that he notched up five A*s and five As after having to dictate his GCSE answers to an official scribe following an accident on the rugby pitch.

The Grammar School at Leeds student broke the knuckle in his right hand during a Leeds School Cup Final at Headingley, a week into his GCSEs.

“I’m so happy with my results,” he said. “I was really worried that I wouldn’t have done well after what happened.

“I had to dictate all of my answers and they were taken down word for word by a teacher who specialised in that particular subject. There was also an invigilator in the room with us.

“It was really weird because you have to use a different thought process. The most difficult exams were the ones where there was a lot of writing involved, like English and religious studies.”

A*s were the most popular grade at Ashville College in Harrogate, with a quarter of all results across being awarded the highest mark.

This included three pupils who each got a clean sweep of A*s, between them gaining an impressive 31 A*s. Alice Butcher gained 11 A*s and Tara Hill and Joe Pieri each gained 10 A*s.

At the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield James Bowler and Edward Kemp both celebrated getting ten A*s.

The independent boys’ school also had seven pupils who achieved nine of the very top grades. They were Ankur Desai, Jack Hodkinson, Soham Karwa, Jean Nel, Joseph Overend, Taha Shiwani and James Watford.

At Wakefield Girls High, another private school in the city Neena Dugar picked up ten A*s.

Five other girls picked up nine A*s: Madison Butterfield, Lydia Jenkinson, Emily Paton, Disha Shetty and Kathryn Willis.

There were also three nine A* star students at Woodkirk Academy in Tingley – Dunjoyin Asalu, Caitlin Rose and Louise Chapman, who each achieved nine top grades among their GCSEs.

Selby High School’s star performers included Benjamin Steward who achieved 10.5 A* and 4 A grades and Charlotte Rawlinson who achieved 9.5 A* and 4 A grades.