Education
Gateshead Nurse Passes GCSE Maths Exam After 40 Years
BBC1h
THE BRIEF
1
Joanne Mulholland, a 56-year-old qualified nurse from Gateshead, passed her GCSE maths exam with a grade 4 after failing her O-levels three times since 1987.
2
Mulholland, who holds a master's degree, took evening classes to pass the exam, motivated by her three sons who achieved high grades in their A-levels.
3
The achievement comes as regional data shows the top-grade GCSE gap between London (28.6%) and the North East (17.7%) reached 10.9 percentage points in 2026.