A teenager who missed two years of education to escape racial bullying is aiming for a career in teaching after earning “life-changing” GCSE results.
Teighan Cooper, 18, of Coalville, was “over the moon” when she earned grade 5s in GCSE English and Maths, to go along with an A in her Health & Social Care Foundation Skills certificate.
It marked the culmination of a rollercoaster journey for Teighan who said she was forced out of her secondary school after bullies made her life a misery.
“I am over the moon! I can’t believe it. I’m shocked, but overall really proud and happy with myself knowing that all the hard work paid off and I did it on my first go,” she said.
“Getting these grades is potentially life-changing. Even though I missed two years of education, this is my first ever attempt, so passing them on the first go is amazing.”
School has not been an easy ride for Teighan whose parents withdrew her from her secondary school when she was 15. They felt teachers did not do enough to tackle a barrage of racial abuse which was regularly hurled at her by a group of bullies.
She said: “The abuse had gotten so bad that my parents withdrew me from school, so I home-schooled for most of year 10 and all of year 11.
“But when I was 16, I wanted to get my GCSEs. It was a big decision to go back into education so I asked around friends who had been to Loughborough College and there was no negative feedback at all.”
Teighan hasn’t looked back since joining the college. In her first year, she did Functional Skills Level 1 course with childcare, English and maths. Then she moved onto the Level 2 Health & Social Care programme in 2021/22 so she could do both GCSEs at the same time.
Now she has the grades to qualify for an Access to Higher Education course which will enable her to pursue a teaching degree in future. But first, she’s taking a year out to gain some invaluable work experience.
“I want to show that bullies don’t always win so I want to go back into education to help people and to try and prevent people going through what I went through,” Teighan said. “I really want to become a secondary school maths teacher.”
Teighan said her college experience was “amazing”.
She said: “It’s been amazing. The teachers are so friendly and supportive, even teachers I don’t know have stopped to check in on me if I’ve looked sad. The mental health team have also been amazing. They’ve really given me confidence in myself.
“I have no regrets whatsoever in coming to Loughborough College.”