“My proudest moment was receiving my offer from Oxford and coming into college to tell my teachers”- the college fostering the next generation's talent

When health problems meant that Eden Mellor-Davies had to resit her first year of A-levels, she was naturally worried about the consequences of having to take time away from her studies.

Luckily she felt comfortable enough with the support network of teachers, wellbeing support staff and her peers at Marple Sixth Form College to return to start again and she praised the staff’s openness for helping her to not only settle back in, but thrive.

What initially attracted Eden to Marple to study her A-Levels when she attended their open day was its size. Being a smaller institution, she thought this suited her style of learning best.

“I found the idea of having smaller classes very appealing as I thought it would give me a better chance to ask questions," she said.

“At the open day all the staff were friendly and inviting, which is exactly how I have found them to be as teachers also. For me I also liked the way that they taught the science subjects using booklets and PowerPoints that cover the entire specification."

Leah chose a very science-based route for study so that she could pursue her dream of completing a medical degree, opting for Biology, Chemistry and Physics as well as the optional extended project qualification.

She added: “My favourite memories have been doing practicals in science lessons. They give us the opportunity to learn both lab techniques and better understand the theory that we've been learning, but also we have great fun.

“As Marple is a small college, we all get to know the people in our classes well, so working together with experiments is always a really fun way to learn.”

Although she admits that at times A-Levels can be challenging, and ‘require a lot of work’, she believes that the standard of