One student is today celebrating a clutch of top A-level grades after almost a year separated from her parents by the pandemic.

Freya Ridgwell, who is a pupil at Benenden School near Cranbrook, insists she will not "moan about the negative things" after receiving four A* grades and an A when she opened her results this morning.

The 18-year-old was unable to see her parents for 11 months - including the entirety of her final year at Benenden - due to restrictions on returning to Singapore where her family lives.

"It has been really difficult and I spent a lot of the holidays at school, which is something I really didn't think I was going to do," she said.

"I spoke to my parents nearly every day through video calls but it was difficult not knowing how long it would last.

"I had so much fun at School and those of us who were in a similar position managed to support each other. The school put on really fun activities so it wasn’t too bad but it was hard not to see my parents or hug them.

"That’s been a real challenge because I didn’t know if I was going to get home this summer, I’m really glad to be home now."

'I was quite disappointed not to sit the actual exams...'

Freya says she felt "really amazing" when she opened her results, which have secured her a place to study design engineering at Imperial College London.

She said: "I was really pleased with it because it was unexpected this year. I did hope to get good enough results to get into university but I was surprised because I really didn’t know how the assessment process would work out.

"I was quite disappointed not to sit the actual exams. When we started A-levels that was what we thought we were expecting and what we had prepared for so it was a shock when they said we weren’t going to have exams."

During the summer term, when exams would normally be taking place, Benenden organised a special learning programme for the GCSE and A-level year groups. This programme involved academic sessions, practical courses, vocational qualifications and a programme of lectures.

Headmistress Samantha Price said: "The students have thoroughly deserved these excellent grades. We always knew this was a strong year group who were likely to perform very well and pupils achieved the grades we would have expected.

"Nevertheless, it has been a very difficult two years for them. Their entire A-level experience has been affected by the pandemic, although undeniably the fact that they were able to have a sustained education throughout - either online or in person - has certainly enabled them to achieve these results.

"Everybody should be very proud of their results and we must not let any controversy about this year’s results dilute the fact that these students have been able to achieve excellent grades against an extremely challenging backdrop."

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