Former Harrogate Ladies’ College student India Taylor, 19, was one of those caught up in the A level results fiasco in the summer. Throughout this year, she has learnt to expect the unexpected, as she tells the Stray Ferret.

Where do I start? This year has been one surprise after another.

I started the year coming back to school and hearing the usual “this is the time to start knuckling down and working hard” lecture that every student knows too well.

At this point, I still had my hopes set on studying Psychology with Criminology at Loughborough but that was about to change. Around mid-March, I chose to reapply to Leeds Beckett so I could stay close to home.

That same week was the first time I realised coronavirus would be sticking around. I went to two amazing gigs in Leeds but both bands were unsure whether they’d be able to finish their tour because of the spreading virus.

Within a week, my exams were cancelled and it was announced that schools would be closing on Friday. It all happened so quickly.

The atmosphere in my all-girls sixth form was dead. On our last day of school, we all sat in the common room and watched as Boris Johnson announced a full lockdown. We couldn’t believe what we were hearing: this was history in the making.

Read more:

• More than a third of all Harrogate A-level grades to be changed
• Video: students talk of uncertainty as schools close

During the next few months we all gave up hope and our online learning became pointless. By late May, that was it, we had officially finished our secondary education… It couldn’t have been any further form what we planned.

I took up running during the summer and focussed on looking for the positives in the world, even when it all seemed impossible.

Then came results day, a day I’d spent years working hard for. I opened my laptop the next morning and I saw B, C, E. I became another victim of the government’s algorithm.

I was distraught, but I channelled my energy into standing up for myself. I emailed my local MP as well as any media sources I could find contact details for.

I’m so proud of my generation for putting pressure on the government to make a U-turn just four days later. I now had BBB and was absolutely thrilled.

I deferred my place at Leeds Beckett as I knew I would miss out on so much due to the virus.

The final term at Harrogate Ladies’ College was not what anyone was expecting

Covid became even more real in September when I tested positive. It started with a tight chest and left me without my sense of smell for a month.

I wasn’t breaking any rules – I was simply babysitting a child for a working mother who needed to go to work.

In the new year, I am hoping to go to Munich to be an au pair for an Irish family, but as I am writing this, more and more travel bans are being introduced.

If 2020 has taught me anything, it’s that the entire world can change in just a matter of hours.

Harrogate Ladies’ College has confirmed one of its students has tested positive for coronavirus.

Other pupils, identified as being in close contact, have also been sent home to isolate.

It is the second time in 24 hours that a Harrogate school has been affected by covid.

The Stray Ferret reported yesterday that Harrogate Grammar School had reported a positive case. The school sent 45 students home to isolate for 14 days.

Harrogate Ladies’ College did not say how many pupils had been affected. A spokeswoman said:

“We can confirm that one pupil at Harrogate Ladies’ College has tested positively for covid. The pupil is well, and isolating at home.

“We are working closely with Public Health England and the NHS track and trace system, and any pupils who have been in close contact with this particular student are now also self-isolating in line with government guidance.”

Despite the two incidents in local schools. coronavirus levels in North Yorkshire county are below the national average.

County council bosses have urged residents to remain vigilant and “avoid unnecessary interactions”.

Read more:

• A Harrogate charity has begun a swap shop for school uniform – where parents can pick up or drop-off second hand uniforms.
• Extra buses are being provided for school children to avoid the spread of covid on public transport. 

The government U-turn on A level results has left local students with concerns about what the future holds.

The government has promised to reverse the standardisation process which saw an average of 37% of grades changed in the Harrogate district, and award the teachers’ assessed grades.

However, for students who lost their university place last week and will now have their grades increased, it could still be too late for them to access their chosen courses in September.

India Taylor, a former student of Harrogate Ladies’ College, said she received BCE on Thursday after Ofqual has changed her Spanish grade from a B to an E. She said:

“I felt completely broken when I received the email on Thursday morning. I had an unconditional offer to study psychology at Leeds Beckett but I was hoping to be able to ‘trade up’ and get into the University of Leeds. But none of the ones I wanted to go to said they would accept me with an E.

“I was planning on deferring a year in order to sort out the appeals process and potentially sit the exams but I am now waiting to hear back from universities following the announcement. I’m glad the government has decided they need a better method – it was unfair to judge people’s efforts based on those at the school before them.

“I think they still could have done more as many people were rejected by their firm choice university and have spent the days since Thursday panicking about the future.”

Student India Taylor is hopeful her teacher-assessed grades from Harroagte Ladies’ College will be good enough to get into her chosen university.

Mark Sellers, a retired teacher from Harrogate and a parent of an A-level student, has raised concerns for those students who had high predicted grades but the grades calculated by their teachers were much lower.

He said:

“My son’s school predicted him AAB but the centre assessed grade they sent to Ofqual was DCB. He can’t go to his favoured university in Newcastle but now he has to go back to study for exams in October.

“His school has now offered him support but others may not. Many modules weren’t finished and I am concerned that all those kids without the grades they wanted will struggle. They may fail again because they haven’t been given the help, they’re throwing them on the scrap heap.

“I sent a letter to my MP to let him know something has to be done, I want him to agree to raise it in the House of Commons for schools to provide the support to these kids. I believe schools have a moral obligation to help them; in a few years it’ll impact them and there will be mental health issues following this too.”

The Stray Ferret asked all local MPs for a comment, including Mr Sellers’ local MP Andrew Jones, but none had replied at the time of publication.

Students at Harrogate Ladies College have achieved over 50% more A* to A’s in their A-level results than previous year groups.

Further success was achieved with 85% of the girls achieving A* to C grades across all subjects.

Unlike other schools in the district, the pupils were invited to a socially distant celebration on the lawn after reading their results online this morning.

Sylvia Brett, principal of Harrogate Ladies’ College, said:

“We are enormously proud of the achievements of all our girls who have worked incredibly hard in these exceptional and challenging circumstances. As an all-girls school we make it our business to encourage the girls to be bold and brave in their subject choices away from fear of judgement or embarrassment.

“I’m delighted to see that so many of them have achieved so highly across such a breadth of subjects. The teaching staff at Harrogate Ladies’ College and I are extremely proud of them all.”

As with all schools, the college students were unable to take their exams this year due to coronavirus. The grades have been calculated using a range of factors and then standardised by government body Ofqual.

Read more:

• Colleges across the district release their results online.
• Ripon Grammar School students are jumping for joy after their A-level achievements.