A teenager who spent most of his school years in a Pupil Referral Unit (PRU) has beaten the odds and is now studying at the University of Cambridge

George Baldock, 18, was removed from mainstream education aged 11 after crippling anxiety and depression left him unable to sit in a class full of peers.

He had a nine-month gap in education which he ‘never fully caught up on’, but praised ‘fabulous’ teachers for ensuring he passed seven GCSEs – before going on to get A*s in all of his A-Levels.

Just 4.5 percent of pupils in alternative provision education, which includes PRUs, receive a Grade 5 or more in Maths and English, government data shows – although the figure prior to the outbreak of coronavirus was just 1.6 percent. 

Now studying history at Trinity College, Cambridge, George acknowledges he is a PRU success story – but is calling for more resources to ensure all students have the same opportunities as he had.

‘People think we are all reprobates, there’s this idea that you go straight from a PRU to prison,’ George told MailOnline. 

George Baldock, 18, was removed from mainstream education aged 11 after crippling anxiety and depression left him unable to sit in a class full of peers

George Baldock, 18, was removed from mainstream education aged 11 after crippling anxiety and depression left him unable to sit in a class full of peers

George Baldock, 18, was removed from mainstream education aged 11 after crippling anxiety and depression left him unable to sit in a class full of peers

Now studying history at Trinity College, Cambridge, George (pictured with his grandfather) acknowledges he is a PRU success story - but is calling for more resources to ensure all PRU students have the same opportunities as he had

Now studying history at Trinity College, Cambridge, George (pictured with his grandfather) acknowledges he is a PRU success story - but is calling for more resources to ensure all PRU students have the same opportunities as he had

Now studying history at Trinity College, Cambridge, George (pictured with his grandfather) acknowledges he is a PRU success story – but is calling for more resources to ensure all PRU students have the same opportunities as he had

'People think we are all reprobates, there's this idea that you go straight from a PRU to prison,' George told MailOnline

'People think we are all reprobates, there's this idea that you go straight from a PRU to prison,' George told MailOnline

‘People think we are all reprobates, there’s this idea that you go straight from a PRU to prison,’ George told MailOnline

‘It feels like we’ve been written off before we got here. Any success is nice, but any failure is expected. People always say I’ve done so well. But I’m just the success story, there are so many that aren’t, it was just pure luck.’

‘I’ve always been very anxious,’ George told MailOnline. ‘I’ve always struggled with it. Although I was very nervous in primary school it didn’t come through as much until the transition to secondary school. 

‘It is totally consumptive. A stone drops in my stomach and it’s the most awful feeling of somehow becoming both really rigid and like jelly at the same time.

‘I’m better now [at coping] but I still get hit with waves of anxiety that are difficult to live with, so at 11 it was impossible to wrangle it.’

George’s anxiety became so bad that by Christmas of Year 7 he had been moved into an internal exclusion unit, alongside pupils with poor behaviour and other educational difficulties.

‘I don’t blame the school at all,’ George explains. ‘It was a poorly conceived plan, but it was the only resource they had. They had people who can’t cope with school sat alongside people who made it more anxiety inducing. By the end of term, I basically stopped going.’

After nine months out of school, George was finally allocated a place at an academy trust with four PRUs.

‘My first thought was I don’t want to do it, I’ll hate it. But my mum, she’s fantastic, but she very much has a pitchfork of love. She’ll push you and make sure you do it. She basically told me to sit down, shut up and give it a go. I owe so much to her.’

George has suffered from anxiety since primary school, but it came to a head in Year 7 (Pictured: George pictured with his sister when in primary school)

George has suffered from anxiety since primary school, but it came to a head in Year 7 (Pictured: George pictured with his sister when in primary school)

George has suffered from anxiety since primary school, but it came to a head in Year 7 (Pictured: George pictured with his sister when in primary school)

George credits his 'amazing' mother (right) with pushing him to his success with a 'pitchfork of love'

George credits his 'amazing' mother (right) with pushing him to his success with a 'pitchfork of love'

George credits his ‘amazing’ mother (right) with pushing him to his success with a ‘pitchfork of love’

When he first arrived at the PRU, the Trinity student was ‘terrified of everyone and everything’. But the unit’s headteacher, Dr Neil Barratt, overheard George mentioning he enjoyed history.

Dr Barratt, who holds a PhD in the subject, began giving George one-to-one tutoring and it was this relationship which allowed him to begin making progress. 

‘He essentially arranged one-on-one teaching for four years in his office. He had no obligation to do that. He found an interest of mine and used it to really lift all aspects of myself.’

With only 15 students in the whole unit, staff spent considerable time with individual pupils to build up a relationship which enabled them to be able to engage with education again. 

Recalling his first day, George said: ‘I just remember sitting there when in my stomach that rigid jelly began creeping in.

‘For the teachers, it was like getting blood from a stone, but they took a genuine interest in me. In a PRU you have to find a way to approach each individual student.

‘With me they were relentless in getting to the bottom of what was going on for me.’

Four years later, George passed seven GCSEs with an average grade of 6: Maths, English Language and English Literature, combined science, history – in which he attained a Grade 9 – art and a vocational cooking qualification.

Even more remarkably, George was able to return to his old mainstream school for sixth form where he got an impressive A* in all of his A-Levels, and full marks in history.

But he said he wouldn’t have ever imagined he could go to a university like Cambridge until teachers at his PRU took their students on a trip to Oxford: ‘There’s no expectations of kids at PRUs,’ he said.

‘But our teachers had high expectations. There was no lack of aspiration, never a second of no belief.

‘We are all so capable of doing well, people just lack opportunities. My teachers would make so much out of nothing. Imagine what could be achieved if PRUs were properly funded.’ 

After receiving an offer to study at Cambridge, George was stunned.

George passed seven GCSEs with an average grade of 6: Maths, English Language and English Literature, combined science, history - in which he attained a Grade 9 - art and a vocational cooking qualification

George passed seven GCSEs with an average grade of 6: Maths, English Language and English Literature, combined science, history - in which he attained a Grade 9 - art and a vocational cooking qualification

George passed seven GCSEs with an average grade of 6: Maths, English Language and English Literature, combined science, history – in which he attained a Grade 9 – art and a vocational cooking qualification

The latest government data shows only 4.5 percent of all alternative provision pupils get a Grade 5 in Maths and English

The latest government data shows only 4.5 percent of all alternative provision pupils get a Grade 5 in Maths and English

The latest government data shows only 4.5 percent of all alternative provision pupils get a Grade 5 in Maths and English

‘I was shocked. My mum had a different reaction, she cried – I think it was 99 percent joy, and one percent “I told you so.”

‘I would never have turned it down, but I certainly had apprehensions, creeping worries whether I would fit in or cope. My mum really had to fight to get me there, and she would have genuinely killed me if I didn’t go!’

Despite his initial impressions of his new city being overwhelmingly positive, George still struggles with severe anxiety.

‘I’ve met some wonderful people, I have great friends already and a great tutor. I still get that feeling of being rocked by anxiety, but rather than reducing myself totally and being stuck at home for days, I’m able to dust myself off and come back the next day.’

George’s story came to light as he received a huge wave of support after posting about his success online.

He said: ‘Don’t tend to say much about my personal life, as it is quite drab, but small update: just over a week ago, I began my studies at the University of Cambridge.

‘This place bears few similarities with the pupil referral unit I came from.

‘Just one percent of students who attend PRUs pass five GCSEs – god knows what the university statistics are, but I don’t imagine they’re any less grim. That is a disgrace. 

‘Entire fleets of vulnerable students being written off by lack of attention and lack of chance. 

‘I’m here because I had world-class teachers who refused to give up on me in a system that really incentivised them to do so; cursed by pathetic funding and low expectations. I was so very lucky. I hope that SEND and AP are taken seriously one day. We can do well too.’

Since his post, which has 80,000 views on X, George has been overwhelmed by the positive response.

‘I’m a very private person,’ he told MailOnline. ‘A lot of people want to remove themselves from association with PRUs. Their reaction for the years of shame is to hide it.

‘But now I want to speak out.’ 

Director of Admissions at Trinity, Dr Glen Rangwala told MailOnline: ‘We’re delighted that George has come to Trinity College.

‘It’s a fantastic learning environment for highly motivated students like George, who are passionate about their subject, and there is excellent support available, from study skills, pastoral support and mental health services to financial assistance for those who need it.

‘Trinity works with a number of charities to encourage applications from students under-represented at Cambridge and other UK universities or who attend schools that don’t usually send many students to university.

‘Through open days, residential stays, and mentoring schemes, we hope to encourage and enable any student with the potential to do well at Cambridge to apply, and to support those who secure a place throughout their time here, so that they thrive, academically and personally.’

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