A Level Success For Local Schools

Some schools reported their best number of A grades ever

Local schools have seen strong performances in their A- Level results with some achieving record numbers of A* grades.

There were lots of successes to celebrate, and tears of joy as the grades were revealed after all the hard work of the past few years. More students in the borough of Hounslow who took on the new tougher A-levels achieved above the London and national average.

The percentage of A-levels in Hounslow at A*-A was up 2.1 percentage points to 23.2% in 2017, compared to 21.1% last year. This year’s provisional figures show that Hounslow’s overall pass rate at 98.4% was above the London (97.6%) and national (97.9%).

One Chiswick School pupil who was labelled disruptive until diagnosed with ADHD three years ago is now going to a Russell Group university. 18-year-old Niama Evans from Chiswick, who attended The Green School before transferring to Sixth Form in Chiswick School, was once given a staggering 78 detentions in just one term.

Having been diagnosed and obtained help, she is now celebrating getting into Leeds University to study sociology with her two A level grades of A's in sociology and photography and a C in psychology. She said: "I couldn't believe it. I cried so much over sociology it was so hard. I can't tell you what this feels like." She hopes to help children with speech and language disabilities in her career.

More than three quarters of sixth form students at Chiswick School achieved A*-C grades, while 48% were celebrating A*-B grades. Twenty-one percent of pupils achieved A*'s and A's at the school this year. And while university applications are down, the teenagers in Chiswick are not letting high fees put them off their career paths.

Maryam Ejlali, 18, turned down an interview at Oxford University to stay in London. She said: "I wasn't very confident so I didn't want to go to the interview. "Now I have a place at UCL and I am so happy. "It was a lot of stress and I had to work really, really hard." Maryam achieved three As in politics, history and religious studies.The teenager will study politics with Eastern European studies.

This year, university applications are down for the first time since 2012. Figures from Ucas, the university admissions service, show a 4 per cent drop in UK applicants overall in 2016-17 compared with the previous year. However, Chiswick School pupils have their hearts set on higher education.

Jerrell Cumberbatch, 18, is off to Manchester University to study law. He achieved 3 As in history, politics and sociology. "My mum studied law but she didn't have the chance to finish it - so I wanted to take that on. "I'm excited"

Tearful Saoirse Akhtar-Farren was over the moon to find out she will soon also head to Manchester. She achieved four A-Levels, with A and B grades. The 18-year-old said: "I really didn't know I was going to get them. "I can't believe it. The school helped me so much, the teachers were always there for me.

At Latymer Upper a total of 31 students achieved at least 3A*s, a third of the cohort (60 students) achieved at least 2A*s and over 100 students at least 1A*.

Five Latymer Upper School pupils from the W4 area will be heading to Oxford and Cambridge:

Astrid Breitenstein to study Human Sciences at Oxford, William Holdsworth to study Mathematics at Oxford, Ben Levi to study Materials Science at Oxford, Alex Miscampbell to study Natural Sciences at Cambridge and Ben Gregory to study PPE at Oxford. Between them they achieved an impressive 18 A*s!

And two Latymer pupils from Chiswick who went to Southfield Primary are going to Imperial College to study Maths and Computer Science and Physics with Theoretical Physics.

The photo here shows William and Alex with two fellow Latyermians, also heading off to Oxford and Cambridge.

Latymer Upper School Head, David Goodhew commented, "I am extremely proud of the Class of 2017, who have worked so hard to attain these fantastic A Level results. To have achieved such a high percentage of the top score whilst continuing their many co-curricular activities is remarkable - and what makes Latymerians such spirited and well-rounded individuals. My colleagues also deserve praise for having inspired and supported our pupils throughout their education at Latymer. I know the Class of 2017 will flourish at their chosen university and I wish them well in this exciting next stage of their educational journey.”

There were also exceptional results at A Level for Sixth Form girls at St Augustine's Priory. Overall, 92% of grades were from A* - C with 72% being from A* - B. A*s and As. The Sixth Form Higher Maths class achieved 100 per cent A grades.

The school is very proud of the girls’ achievements and the students have met confirmed offers for ambitious degree courses at university, such as Physics and Astronomy at Surrey, (whose Professor is the world-renowned Jameel Al-Khalili OBE), Biology at Leeds, Biochemistry at Birmingham, Art Foundation at Loughborough, Zoology at Leeds, History at York, Politics and International Relations at Bath and Economics at Royal Holloway.

Interim Headteacher, Mrs Marie-Helene Collins, commented, ‘We are delighted with these exceptional results, which are so well deserved, for our wonderful girls. We are enormously proud of our girls and teachers for all their hard work’.

Sixth form students at St Benedict’s, Ealing, are also achieved some outstanding A level results. Fifteen students gained straight As, including Alvin Lee, whose 4 A*s secure his place at Imperial College London to read Computer Science. Former Head Boy, Matt Carr, has gained 3 A*s and will read History at Durham. Luca Lota’s 3 A*s secure his place at Durham to read Physics, and Ben Ainslie will read Veterinary Medicine at the Royal Veterinary College, having gained A*AA. This year, students at St Benedict’s gained 70.7% A*-B grades at A level, and 36.1% gained A*-A.

The Headmaster, Andrew Johnson, said, "I am pleased to be able to congratulate our sixth formers, who have achieved such strong A level results, and I thank their teachers for the dedicated guidance and support they have given our A level students. There have been some stellar individual performances this year at St Benedict's, and I am delighted so many of our leavers are now heading to top Russell Group universities."

August 19, 2017