A FORMER pupil at St Augustine’s Catholic College in Trowbridge has been given an Excellence Award by the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers.

William Starkey was one of six A-level students who achieved the highest marks nationally in the 2019 geography examinations.

He received a digital voucher and a certificate after scoring 95 per cent in his examination.

Mr Starkey, 19, from Winsley, is now studying law at Christ's College, Cambridge, after passing three A*'s in Geography, Economics and Biology.

He said: "I wasn't aware that I had won an award, but am very pleased.

"Some parts of the examination were easy and others not so. My main difficulty was having the time to get down everything that I wanted."

The Society’s Excellence Awards recognise and celebrate the hard work and success of the pupils who achieve the highest marks in the GCSE, IGCSE, A Level, Pre-U and International Baccalaureate geography examinations each year.

Steve Brace, the Society’s head of education and outdoor learning, said:

“The Society is delighted to recognise the outstanding work of these young geographers across their GCSE and A Level examinations from 2019.

“Each award is given to students who achieved the highest grade in their exams and illustrates the impressive standard being set in school geography, which is taken nationwide by 265,000 GCSE and 34,000 A Level students each year.

“Our Excellence Awards reflect the students’ hard work and their curiosity about the world, but also the support of their geography teachers.

“We hope they will carry their interest of the world’s people, places and environments, and how they are changing, with them into the future.”

The Royal Geographical Society, with The Institute of British Geographers, is the learned professional body for geography.