Nurse passes maths GCSE after 40-year wait
SuppliedA nurse says she is "over the moon" to have passed her maths GCSE having tried again after 40 years.
Joanne Mulholland, 56, from Gateshead, last re-sat her maths O-level in 1987 and failed three times.
Despite going on to become a qualified nurse and achieving a master's degree, she wanted to try again for her maths qualification and took evening classes. The mum "had a few tears" on Thursday morning when discovering she had been awarded a passing mark of 4.
The gap between the proportion of top GCSE grades awarded in London compared to the north-east of England is at its highest since records started in 2010.
Mulholland said there was a "little bit of competitiveness" as her three sons achieved high grades in their maths A-levels.
"They can just do it and it just comes really easily, and sometimes it just doesn't come easily to people."
After leaving school, she chose to train at a hospital that did not need a maths qualification and went on to become a paediatric nurse.
She supported the opportunity for people to take re-sits, saying: "Sometimes you just need to want to do things."
Figures show 28.6% of entries in the capital received grade 7 or above this year, while the North East had the lowest figure at 17.7%, slightly down from 17.8% last year.
It means the gap between these two regions now stands at 10.9 percentage points, up from 10.6 in 2025 and the largest since the start of available data in 2010.
Despite this, there were excited screams and smiling faces at Consett Academy in County Durham as pupils opened their results on Thursday.
Aspiring dancer Finn, 16, was overjoyed to discover he got what he needed to go on to dance college in Hartlepool.
"I passed everything, I can't believe it," he said.
"I'm really glad, I did not think I was going to pass everything, I can't lie."
Ethan, 16, said he had just started an apprenticeship working on classic cars.
"I've passed everything which I'm buzzing about," he said.
"I've been ready to work for a while and I want to learn the trade then I went to sell cars."
Vice principal at East Durham College Jackie Lanagan said apprenticeships were becoming more and more popular.
"I did one myself," she said. "In recent years, they've really become seen as a valuable option for lots of young people rather than the academic route."
She said they helped students get the experience "employers really value".
"It doesn't matter if the young person didn't get the grades they hoped for, it's not the end of the story."
