Freya lands top grades despite glandular fever

Despite battling glandular fever throughout her sixth form years and enduring repeated illness in the crucial months leading up to her A Levels, St Marys School Gerrards Cross student Freya Gaskell achieved an outstanding A* and two As in Business, Psychology and Sociology.

In the months before her exams, Freya underwent eight courses of antibiotics while suffering with glandular fever, as well as three further courses for chest infections. She even sat her first A Level exam while taking antibiotics.

A former games captain, Freya is now heading to the University of Nottingham to study Business and Management.

Asked how she managed to achieve such exceptional results despite everything she had been through, Freya credited sheer hard work and determination.

"I didn't get the grades I needed in my mocks, so I was determined to improve them. I worked harder than I ever have before because I knew what I wanted to achieve."

Freya's achievement reflects St Mary's strong track record for value-added education. The school is among the leading schools in the county for helping pupils outperform expectations, with girls typically achieving around one grade higher than predicted on entry to the senior school.