August 2019

Over the past 3-4 years, we have become used to excellent results in the sixth form and so it is perhaps no surprise that today has been another positive day. At the time of writing, nearly all of students who applied to university have secured places at institutions of their choice – and the celebrations seem to have started already for many!

It looks like around 40% of students will be off to prestigious Russell Group universities, which is exceptionally high and testament to their own hard work, as well as the excellent support they have received.

Make no mistake: the new A’ level and vocational specifications are challenging and there is a lot of pressure on students and staff to deliver. I want to pay tribute to everybody who has worked so hard over the past two years; good results certainly don’t come about by accident. In particular, huge thanks go to our Head of Sixth Form, Mrs Jennings and her team, whose unfailing energy and commitment in supporting students and staff have been such an important factor behind our results over the past few years.

There have been many truly exceptional individual performances from students. A select few performed especially brilliantly, with at A* grades in at least three different A level subjects: huge congratulations go to Jessica Baillie, Joel Davies, Josh Davies, Eloise Fairhurst and Mathilde Tavernier.

Jake Wernham and Ben Jeffrey both gained two A* and one A grade, whilst Lauren Gandy got two A* and two A grades and is now off to Cambridge to study Chemical Engineering.

In addition, a number of other students gained at least three A* or A grades. These were: Adam Hoskinson, Anna Simms, Dylan Boston, Sian John, Alice Lohan Ganley, Harry Robinson, Shay Brooke and Hannah Walsh.

Special mention must also go to Charlotte Allen and Tiara Reyes for scoring perfect triple starred distinctions on their BTEC courses. Similarly, Eleanor Hough gained a double starred distinction in BTEC Fashion to go with her A* in A level Photography.

Whilst we have named the highest of high flyers here, there are so many other students who performed superbly and exceeded all reasonable expectations. We are very proud of them all.

Today is primarily about the individual students and their own aspirations, but we obviously also look at the overall picture of results and early analysis suggests this will be strong again, with a quarter of all A’ level grades awarded at A*/A and well over half at A*-B. In vocational courses, around two-thirds of grades awarded were distinctions or starred distinctions, which we are especially pleased with this year.

Congratulations again to everyone involved!

Gwyn Williams

Headteacher