Benenden School’s top GCSE performer, Scarlett Mansfield, says that her fantastic results have “propelled her dreams” of entering the medical profession.
Scarlett, 16, achieved a clean sweep of 13 Level 9 grades – the highest available – and is now looking forward to returning to School in September to study Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Spanish at A Level.
Scarlett, who lives in Biddenden, Kent and is one of the School’s bursary recipients said: “It took a lot of hard work to get here, and I am over the moon with my results. I think you can never be sure what to expect, there has been so much uncertainty after the last 18 months. I was unsure what results I would receive and last night I wasn’t able to sleep properly, but then this morning it was just the best feeling in the world to know all that hard work paid off.”
Scarlett cited the “level of uncertainty” as the most difficult thing about the last 18 months in relation to her studies but thanked the Benenden community for their support. She continued: “At the beginning of the pandemic I found it a struggle getting used to a whole new daily routine of remote working, things were changing all the time.
“Eventually we all got used to it and we all worked together, that’s the great thing about the Benenden community – everyone pulled together, and it didn’t take us long to get to a stage of feeling comfortable with remote learning. I can’t thank the teachers and staff enough for supporting us as much as they did throughout such an uncertain time.”
Scarlett is now looking forward to returning to School in September and concentrating on the formal start to her A Level studies.
She concluded: “I’m really looking forward to starting Sixth Form, after School I would like to study medicine at university and these results are such a good gateway to propel me towards my dream – these results are a great motivator. It will definitely take a while for my results to really sink in, I think after that I’ll celebrate!”