Students at Gower College Swansea are celebrating after maintaining an excellent overall 98% pass rate at A Level, with 1738 separate exam entries.

Of these passes, 77% were at the higher grades of A*- C, 53% were at grades A*- B and 23% were at grades A* - A.

The overall pass rate at AS Level was 90%, with 63% of those passes being grades A-C and 43% being grades A or B. There were 3138 separate exam entries for AS.

“I’m delighted that we have maintained our excellent overall pass rate of 98% at A Level,” says Principal Mark Jones.

It’s been a hectic few weeks for the college’s AS and A Level Government and Politics students.

Firstly, they were invited to take part in BBC Wales’ Ask The Leader live televised debates, held in advance of the forthcoming National Assembly for Wales elections on 5 May.

A Level Chemistry students at Gower College Swansea have performed exceptionally well at this year’s Royal Society of Chemistry Olympiad.

The annual event is open to second year A Level students who are expected to achieve grades of A or A*in their exams, and is a challenging exercise that truly stretches the most committed young chemists.

A Level Geography, Politics and World Development students from Gower College Swansea recently visited the USA, taking in stops at the United Nations, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and the 911 memorial museum.

The geographers were able to examine the sustainability of New York City, including a look at an 'urban farm' and the High Line park regeneration.

Meanwhile, the politics and world development students travelled to Washington to visit the Capitol Buildings, the National Archives, the Lincoln Memorial and the White House.

A team of A Level Economics students from Gower College Swansea recently competed in a OSTC Wales Trading Competition and took the top honours in two separate categories.

Callum Thomas won first prize in the individual trading competition and, alongside team mates Emily Griffiths and Brett Lewis, took the overall team competition title too.  

Seven students from Gower College Swansea have been offered places to study at Cambridge University this year.

They are:

A Gower College Swansea student has become the first from a Welsh educational institution to be shortlisted in the Royal Economic Society’s Young Economist of the Year competition.

Rory Daniels, who is studying A Levels at the Gorseinon campus and is a student governor, made the final shortlist of just 20 taken from an initial 2000 entries.

Plans are well underway to nurture the skills and talent of local youngsters and boost the local NHS and life sciences workforce.

Over 200 pupils in Year 11 from Bishopston Comprehensive were invited to a recent special careers conference highlighting the variety of jobs in the NHS and life science sector, such as laboratory and scientific testing to help diagnose and treat illnesses.

The first Elevate Conference was held at Swansea University earlier this month and it proved a huge success with the Bishopston pupils.

As part of their study of coastal processes and landforms, A Level Geography students from Gower College Swansea were given the exciting opportunity to participate in a recent two-day residential field trip to England’s first natural World Heritage site.

The students - accompanied by lecturers Valeh Warrey, Mark Lethbridge, David Bawden and Yana Austin - visited part of the Jurassic coastline at Dorset and also got to study the awe-inspiring landscapes of Chesil Beach, Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, Poole Harbour Spit and Bournemouth.

Students planning a career in medicine/psychiatry got the chance to meet one of the leading figures in the field recently, when the founding editor of The Lancet Psychiatry visited Gower College Swansea.

Niall Boyce met students at the Gorseinon campus to talk about emerging areas of mental health research.

"Mental health research is in a very exciting phase right now, including some world-class work going on in Wales,” says Niall. “I hope some of the students at Gower College Swansea will consider careers in this area."