The student who took her A-level exams while undergoing chemotherapy

A Bristol student has received top grades after studying for her A-levels while undergoing treatment for cancer.

Rosie Pearce, who went to St Brendan’s Sixth form College, received AAB grades in Combined English, Textiles and Media on A-level results day today (18 August).

But she had a harder journey than most, as she was being treated for brain cancer throughout college.

“I was diagnosed with a brain tumour in October 2020, in my first year of college,” Rosie said.

“We were online for half of the time, so I was studying half-on and half-off - but I was still doing it in hospital.

“I managed to not go back a year group, which is what the college were suggesting," she said.

"I didn’t really want to because studying was quite a nice distraction anyway.

“Especially textiles, my teacher sent me lots of textiles things to do in hospital so I could kind of keep along with everyone else which was really nice.

“I was able to do embroidery and things like that from my hospital bed, which is a bit mad to me, saying it now.

"I had radiotherapy in December 2020 and thankfully that worked," she added.

“Everyone hated being online, but it was a lifesaver for me.”

Rosie has now received a place at the University of the West of England in Bristol to study primary education.

Jo Woodbridge, head of textiles and graphic design at St Brendan's, said: “What happened was because we were on remote teaching, she was able to join in at a time where otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to.

"All of the lessons were online, so Rosie was just there every lesson. It actually worked really well.

“I’m super proud, she’s been an absolutely fantastic student to teach and this is a real, real success story.”

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