Student receives Royal Geographical Society 'Excellence Award'

Katie, who is now in her first year of Sixth Form at Truro School, was told the good news last week, after the Head of Geography received a letter in the post, along with a certificate and cash prize for Katie.

Having sat her GCSEs last summer, Katie was thrilled to receive the news which meant she was the highest scoring student out of 12,104 to have sat the Geography paper.

“I was really surprised to have won it, I didn’t think the exam had gone particularly well so I was really excited when I got the letter,” said Katie.

The awards aim to promote the interest and enjoyment of Geography by recognising and rewarding high achievers across A Level and GCSE examinations. Students from schools across England, Northern Ireland and Wales are eligible for the awards and Katie was the only student from Cornwall to receive the honour in 2016.

Head of Education and Outdoor Learning of the Society, Steve Brace, said: “The pupils receiving these awards have all demonstrated their excellent understanding of geography as a subject and how it can inform us about the world we live in. Their exceptional marks reflect both their ability as geographers and the high quality teaching that takes place in their schools.”

Jo Wormald, Head of Geography, said she was thrilled to be able to give Katie the good news and that the award is significantly well deserved for the hard-working student.

Mr Barnett, Katie’s GCSE Geography teacher, was particularly excited and says that Katie was a pleasure to teach.

“Katie was an extremely hardworking student, always going above and beyond what I asked of her. For her to achieve what she has, being the best for WJEC is amazing, but I think it also comes down to the whole class’ work ethic. It’s very nice to hear that the department has the capability of getting these outstanding results.”

Within last year’s Geography GCSE cohort, Katie was amongst three Truro School students to score full UMS marks, alongside Kathryn MacQuarrie and Beth Whell, something which only 43 students achieved across the country.