A Moray high school pupil with a passion for history is celebrating after becoming one of a select band of local youngsters to receive perfect exam marks.
Teenagers around the country awoke yesterday morning to discover whether their studies had paid off.
And 21 of the Moray pupils who sat their SQA higher exams in May received the best news possible – that they had scored five A grades.
Elgin High School’s Eleanor Gillespie achieved As in history, French, English, human biology and maths.
The 17-year-old fifth year pupil said: “I was quite shocked when I got my results through, even though I did a lot of studying for the exams.
“I revised for about six hours a day for four weeks.”
She added: “I’m looking at studying history at university after I leave school, I enjoy learning about World War II and about social history.”
Elgin High School head teacher, Andrew Simpson, said: “I’m delighted for Eleanor, she has worked very hard all through her school career and her results are very well deserved.”
Youngsters from Elgin Academy also proved their acumen yesterday, with seven pupils scoring five As in their exams.
Two of them, Oscar Heald and Matthew Coulson, said they would now go on to study medicine at a higher level.
And Matthew, 17, will soon jet off to Ghana to begin a one-month work experience project to prepare him for a career as a doctor.
Fellow pupils Rhiannon Smith, Zmarak Ahmad Khan, Anna Campbell, Neil Hawco and Alasdair Robinson also received perfect marks.
Elgin Academy head teacher David Barnett added: “We’re thrilled with the terrific results some of our fifth year pupils received.”
Seven was also a lucky number for Forres Academy, with Craig MacFadyen, Calum Noel, Finley Blanche, Bethany Hurst, Gregor Miller, James Hammond, Jack Ogilvie-Richards all scoring dream results.
Other pupils who received perfect marks were Buckie High School’s Jay Slater, Lossiemouth’s Alexandra Smith, Speyside’s Elizabeth Fraser and Lachlan Robertson and Siobhan Kinghom and Rachel Stoker, from Milne’s High.
Among the fourth years, 62 Moray students achieved six As at National 5 level.
Chairwoman of Moray Council’s children and young people’s services committee, Anne Skene said: “This is an outstanding set of results.
“Both staff and pupils in all of Moray’s secondary schools deserve congratulations for their hard work.”