Congratulations to Katie who was stunned to hear her name announced as the AQA Student of the Year, based on her results for A level Drama and Theatre Studies, at a ceremony in the magnificent setting of One Great George Street, Westminster, on Monday 19 November.

Katie, who left JAGS in July 2007, achieved 4 A levels, all at grade A and a Distinction in an AEA award for Religious Studies. She is now working at the Globe Theatre in her gap year.

The awards recognize outstanding performance in A-level examinations and the winners come from over a third of a million AQA entries. The awards are made each year in several subject categories, each category consisting of a number of broadly related subjects. The winners are chosen on a purely statistical basis following an analysis of all the results in each category. Katie walked into the hall knowing that she was top out of 33,000 candidates in the Languages, Arts and Performance category, and walked out as the best student overall out of 330,242 candidates in all subjects!

Tessa Jowell, MP, was there to hear the announcement, and, in celebratory mood, the audience of families, friends and sponsors was fuelled by challenging and inspirational speeches by Julia Cleverdon, Chief Executive for Business in the Community, Mike Cresswell, Director of AQA, and John Hayes, MP, Shadow Minister for Vocational Education.

We are thrilled for Katie and wish her, and the other award winners, every success in the future.

Pictured below with Sue Rogers, Chair of AQA, Katie received a trophy and a cheque for £500.

The ‘Student of the Year' award went to Katie Carpenter