Britain’s top GP, Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard, recently came home to Swansea for a whirlwind two-day trip during which she visited her old school and college where she took her first steps to success.

Prof Stokes-Lampard, Chair of the Royal College of GPs - the UK’s largest Medical Royal College representing 52,000 family doctors across the UK – met Year 10 children at Penyrheol Comprehensive School and students interested in studying medicine at Gower College Swansea in Gorseinon.

Gower College Swansea has welcomed over 250 learners to the Gorseinon campus for the launch of the HE+ programme* for 2017/18.

Gower College Swansea, at the invitation of and in collaboration with, the University of Cambridge, is the ‘hub’ institution in the Swansea HE+ Consortium, working with the seven state sixth-form schools in the City and County of Swansea.

A few weeks into the summer holidays, students will hopefully be starting to feel relaxed and refreshed after all their hard work during the GCSE and A Level exam period.  With a month of holidays left to look forward to, many will be seeking opportunities to give them a head-start in their chosen careers or in the work place in general. Here, Mark Jones, Principal at Gower College Swansea, looks at six ways students across Swansea could make the most of their free time this summer to boost future career prospects.

Students across Swansea will now be looking forward to a well-deserved summer break after overcoming their biggest educational challenge yet: their GCSE exams. While many are set for pastures new, there are those who are still deciding on where to take the next steps of their educational journeys. 

For students in Swansea, there are plentiful opportunities for further study.  Mark Jones, Principal of Gower College Swansea, offers his thoughts on the next stepping stones towards success.

A Level Chemistry students at Gower College Swansea have performed extremely well once again at the Royal Society of Chemistry Olympiad, which saw over 5300 young people participate in 2017.

The annual event is open to second year A Level students who are expected to achieve grades of A or A* in their exams, and is a challenging exercise that truly stretches the most committed young chemists.

Four candidates – Ivan Gelemerov, Matthew Brown, Aaron Robey and Briall Baker - achieved Silver certificates and one - Joshua Davies – gained a Certificate of Participation.

A Science lecturer from Gower College Swansea has been selected to attend the largest European educational fair, which will see primary and STEM teachers from 30 countries gather to exchange innovative teaching concepts and present their most innovative ideas.

Denise Thomas, who teaches Chemistry at the Gorseinon campus, will participate in the prestigious Science on Stage Festival 2017 when it takes place in Hungary in June.

Four Gower College Swansea students, who are all studying A Levels at the Gorseinon campus, took part in the recent Urdd National Swimming Gala.

Dylan Lambropolus, Kyle Job, Oliver Jones and Lewis Quirk came first in two relay races – the medley and the freestyle. They were competing against pupils and students from all over Wales in the ‘over year 11’ age category.

A Cambridge University academic, originally from Swansea, has just completed a week-long tour of South Wales to inspire 875 teenagers to enter top universities.

Students at Gower College Swansea are celebrating after maintaining an excellent overall 98% pass rate at A Level, with 1738 separate exam entries.

Of these passes, 77% were at the higher grades of A*- C, 53% were at grades A*- B and 23% were at grades A* - A.

The overall pass rate at AS Level was 90%, with 63% of those passes being grades A-C and 43% being grades A or B. There were 3138 separate exam entries for AS.

“I’m delighted that we have maintained our excellent overall pass rate of 98% at A Level,” says Principal Mark Jones.

It’s been a hectic few weeks for the college’s AS and A Level Government and Politics students.

Firstly, they were invited to take part in BBC Wales’ Ask The Leader live televised debates, held in advance of the forthcoming National Assembly for Wales elections on 5 May.