An Angus teenager is on cloud nine as he edged one step closer to his dream of becoming a pilot after receiving his exam results.
Andrew Black (17), from Forfar, was one of thousands across Scotland who opted to have the eagerly-anticipated news sent to them electronically one day early.
Andrew who has just finished sixth-year at Forfar Academy was jubilant when he learned he had passed three Highers and two Advanced Highers.
He said, “It was way more than I was expecting. I’m just really happy. As soon as I found out I rang my mum and logged on to MSN to tell my girlfriend.
“I’m really glad I decided to have them sent a day early because it’s one less day spent worrying about what they’re going to be like. It’s a huge weight off my shoulders.
“I’m hoping now I can get onto an engineering course at either Glasgow or Strathclyde, which would hopefully lead to becoming a pilot.”
Andrew, was awarded Bs in English and history at Advanced Higher, an A in Higher psychology, B in Higher human biology and C in Higher music.
He has been fascinated by planes since he was a small child. He said, “My step grand-dad lives near Edinburgh Airport, and I used to watch all the planes when I was really, really young.
“Then, when I was 10 we watched Concorde’s last flight out of Edinburgh, which was just totally, totally incredible. Since then I’ve been bought flying lessons for my birthday and Christmas and they’ve been unbelievable.
“Now I have the results I need for university I hope I can join an air squadron which means I’ll be paid to fly, which would just be completely amazing.”
Despite planning celebrations for this week, Andrew doesn’t have much time to savour his academic success. Next week, his passion for travel will see him fly to Honduras as part of a year-long project in which he will teach under-privileged children.
He continued, “I might be a bit homesick at times, but I’m really looking forward to it, and now I can go away without worrying about my future when I come back.
“I’ll be teaching primary school children English, maths and science and I think it will be really rewarding.”