Cleveland College of Art and Design (CCAD) in Middlesbrough has maintained its record of a 100 per cent BTEC pass rate for more than 11 successive years. 66 percent of its BTEC Extended Diploma students gained a triple distinction (DDD) or above, which is the equivalent of three As at A-Level, an increase of three percent on last year.
Among the outstanding results revealed at the campus on Green Lane this year are the BTEC Extended Diplomas in Fashion and Textiles, which saw 75 percent of its students achieve DDD or above, and Graphics, where 73 percent of its students achieved a triple distinction or higher.
A-Level students have also have had another successful year at the college, with 85 percent achieving three A-C grades – well ahead of the national average.
18-year-old Eleanor Brennan from Chop Gate near Middlesbrough achieved three As for her A-levels in History of Art, Graphics and Fine Art. She is now going on to study Fine Art at Manchester Metropolitan University, her first choice of university.
The student, a former pupil at Stokesley School, was delighted with her results, which were better than expected. She said: “I got my results by email and opened them up when I was in bed early this morning. My friend had texted me earlier with her results so I thought I would check mine and when I saw it was three As I started crying. I wasn’t expecting an A in Graphics so it was a bit of a shock. My mum cried when I told her and my Dad cried as I told him when he was driving to work!
Eleanor has really enjoyed her time at CCAD. “There is so much freedom with what you can study here and I really enjoyed that. As part of my Fine Art course, some students were painting but I did installation and others did sculpture. If you have an idea you can run with it, there is no restrictions, which is fantastic. It is more like a mini university and has given me the best preparation for university that I could ask for.”
After university, Eleanor would like to create her own street wear clothing brand. She added: “I think there is definitely a gap in market for clothing based on fine art and street wear so I would like to do something a bit different. A background in fine art is the best you can have as it is so varied.
“I would love to work as part of an art collective where creative people like tattoo artists, designers and writers are in one place and working together to create something really cool.”
Fellow A-level student Robyn Stock, 18 from Norton, also gained excellent results, with two As and one B in Fine Art, History of Art and English Language, and was over the moon with her results.