For two Hartlepool teenagers, GCSE results day has become less of a finish line and more of a starting point.
Students across the town received their results on 20 August, with High Tunstall College of Science among the schools celebrating young people moving on to sixth form, college, apprenticeships, training and work.
Among them was 16-year-old Carys Barker, who passed all nine of her GCSEs and achieved a grade 7 in Drama. Carys told Hartlepool Borough Council that she had been very shy when she first arrived at High Tunstall and used ear defenders to manage loud noise.
She also described maths as something she had struggled with throughout her school years, making passing the subject particularly . Her next step is Acting for Stage and Screen at Stockton Riverside College, with an ambition to work in television.
Fellow student Will Eddowes-Cahill earned nine GCSEs, including grade 9s in Maths and English Language and grade 8s in French, Biology, Chemistry, History and Physics.
Will is heading to Hartlepool Sixth Form College to Physics, History and Sociology. then hopes to continue to university, with History or Physics currently in his sights.
Head teacher Mark Tilling said the school was proud of the class of 2026 and pointed to the work, attendance and commitment behind the results.
Results days inevitably reduce years of school life to a sheet of grades for a few hours. The more interesting bit comes afterwards. Across Hartlepool, hundreds of young people are now taking those results into their next classrooms, workplaces and training programmes. For Carys and Will, the route ahead is already beginning to take shape.
: Results, student plans and comments were checked against Hartlepool Borough Council's official results-day report, published 20 August 2026. Image: Hartlepool Borough Council.