Tom Keast from Wigginton collected 10 GCSE grades at The Joseph Rowntree School in New Earswick this morning (August 22).
Added to the six grade nines and three grade sevens was a grade eight in GSCE astronomy, earned independently from his daytime curriculum, to follow a passion for the subject matter.
A visit to the school from a delegation from York Independent State School Partnership (ISSP) before the academic year began whetted Tom’s appetite further and he signed up for the GCSE course.
ISSP ensures academic challenge can be met across the city that cannot be provided by one school alone.
Tom cycled to Bootham School once a week in the evenings to study and attended Zoom calls on Fridays after school to learn more about a topic he first tuned into around the family home.
Tom said: “Ever since I was young, I’ve loved space.
“It holds so many unknowns and possibilities.
“When I found out about an extra astronomy GCSE, I took the opportunity because I’m thinking about going to university after A-levels to study astrophysics.
“After some paperwork and a test which I did with a handful of my friends here, I was accepted on the course by ISSP.”
‘If we can terraform Mars and make that a liveable place, then we’ve got the technology to help the Earth be much better’
The GCSE exam was completed at The Joseph Rowntree School with his others but the pupils – from different backgrounds in the city – were able to benefit from Bootham School’s assets, where the curriculum was learned.
Tom said: “They have an observatory at Bootham.
“Every couple of months we’d go down on a night and we learned how to calibrate the telescopes, how to position it, and take and compile photos.
“It was quite an old telescope but we did look at the moon, Jupiter and some of the planets.
“They have more powerful telescopes there too.”
Richard Keast, Tom’s father, said: “His passion helped us support him.
“He’s always been quite switched on, and as parents we’ve always let him evolve naturally and that takes off any pressure.
“He wasn’t overstressed, he gave himself time to prepare but he didn’t overdo himself.
“He’s done really well in his GCSEs but his attitude has been really relaxed, he’s given himself time to revise and has been quite methodical about it.”
Tom was pushed on the idea of a manned mission to Mars during his lifetime.
He said: “I don’t think we will, or that it’s the best idea.
“We’ve got more important stuff to learn about space.
“It’s going to be harder to travel to Mars.
“If we can terraform Mars and make that a liveable place, then we’ve got the technology to help the Earth be much better.”
