Local schools achieve record grades despite disruption to pupils' education

Chiswick School students celebrate receiving their A Level results

Sixth formers in the Chiswick area have managed to achieve an exceptional set of results despite the huge challenges they faced during their studies.

The newly published A Level and Level 3 Vocational results are first set of public examination results post the COVID-19 pandemic and they demonstrate that students have managed to excel in difficult circumstances. This was the year group that was unable to sit GCSEs in 2020.

Students at Chiswick School achieved 46% of A*-A grades and 75% of grades at A*-B which is significantly above the national average. In 2019 only 9% of grades were at A*-A at the school. Level 3 Vocational results mirror the A Level performance with 61% of Vocational grades Distinction*-Distinction. This is against a national backdrop where results are expected to be lower after two years of record increases.

Headteacher Laura Ellener said, “Students, teachers and leaders have gone above and beyond over the last two years. These results represent this hard work and determination. Our aim has always been to provide students with an amazing place to learn and to become one of the best schools in the country.”

“On the back of these results, our students’ destinations include five students progressing to Oxford or Cambridge plus an array of Russell Group universities, apprenticeships, employment and gap years spent volunteering and travelling. Our Head Students Cameron and Lily, are both heading to their first-choice universities in September. Cameron to University of Oxford to study Law after obtaining A*AAA and Lily to University of Manchester to study Psychology after obtaining AAB .”

Some other top performers at Chiswick School include:

● Savvina A: A*A*A*A progressing to University of Sheffield to study Politics and Philosophy
● Gwen B: A*A*A* progressing to University of Cambridge to study History
● Thalyta B: AAAA progressing to King’s College London to study Medicine
● Nico C: A*A*A progressing to University of Warwick to study Economics, Psychology and Philosophy
● Tom F: A*A*A progressing to University of Birmingham to study Business Management
● Oscar F: A*A*A* progressing to University of the Arts London to study Fine Art: Computational Arts
● Alex G: A*A*A*A progressing to Imperial College London to study Mathematics
● Kirstie M: A*A*A progressing to King’s College London to study Economics
● Stan S: A*A*AA progressing to University of Leeds to study Mathematics
● Rabbi S: A*A*A*A progressing to University of Oxford to study Mathematics
● Peter T: A*A*A progressing to University of Bristol to study Economics and Mathematics
● Lucie T: A*A*A*A progressing to King’s College London to study Neuroscience
● Jackson T: A*A*A*A* progressing to King’s College London to study Politics
● Fatima Y: A*AA progressing to University of Cambridge to study Human, Social, and Political Sciences

Deputy Headteacher, Graham McNamara said, “It has been a very exciting morning as, along with their excellent results, we have received confirmation from our students of their destinations. We encourage them to be ambitious and I am overjoyed with seeing the relentless hard work of these young people pay off. They have embraced every obstacle along the way since Year 11 with grave determination. They have done themselves, their teachers and their families very proud!”

West London Free School Sixth Form students have also achieved their best ever set of results with one in four gaining straight As and A*s and six winning places at Oxford and Cambridge. 75% of applicants have achieved grades to attend their first-choice destination, and 100% of bursary students from a disadvantaged background have got into their first or second choice institution. These include King’s College London, University of Nottingham and Durham University.

At Latymer Upper School 46% of A Level grades were at A* with 82% grades A*/A. This enabled 88% of students to secure their first choice of university with 19 securing Oxbridge places and the same number going on to study medicine. There was also a record breaking 82 offers from 48 International Universities in 8 different countries - including Brown, Bocconi, Carnegie Mellon, Columbia, Cornell, ETH Zurich, Georgetown, McGill, MIT, NYU, UCLA, UPenn and Yale

School Captain, Simdi was amongst the 41 students who scored all A* grades. Simdi will now take up a place at MIT. 49 students achieved at least 3 A*s and 10 students, like Alexia, achieved 4A*s. Alexia has been awarded a scholarship to study engineering at the University of Toronto.

A number of pupils who joined Latymer Upper School two years ago in the Sixth Form did exceptionally well. Matilda achieved an unprecedented and almost unachievable, A*, D1 and D1 (D1 is equivalent to higher than an A* in Pre-U) and will now go on to Edinburgh to study Philosophy and Politics; Tanita, who also joined for Sixth Form, will go to Oxford to study English Language and Literature, and bursary student, Filipina, becomes the first Latymerian to take an apprenticeship degree at the Dyson Institute of Engineering and Technology.

The 19 students going to Oxford and Cambridge include bursary student, Marko who will study Anglo Saxon, Norse and Celtic; musician, Luke, who will study medicine at Oxford; keen rower and member of the 1st VIII, Enrico will study medicine at Cambridge; Thomas taking PPE at Oxford; Martha taking Geography at Oxford; Madelaine who will study English at Cambridge, Jessica Coe taking Theology, Religion & Philosophy at Cambridge and Thomas who will study Physics at Oxford. Thomas and his twin Bob, achieved an incredible total of 6 A*s and 2As in Chemistry, Physics, Maths and Further Maths, and History. Bob will go to Manchester to study Maths.

19 students, like bursary holder, Sophia, who will now go on to study medicine, including Abdirahman who will go to Imperial and Paris at Kings.

Clara is going to Brown to study Art and Rosa is doing Foundation at City and Guilds School of Art; Tallulah will go on to study Film at the University of Westminster; Kitty will take up a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music and Stanley will attend the Royal Northern College of Music to study guitar. School Vice-Captains, Nina starts at UPenn in September and Santiago has been awarded one of the most highly selective merit scholarships in the USA, the Jefferson Scholarship.

Head, David Goodhew, said, “I speak for everyone at Latymer when I say how proud we are of these stellar results. Our Class of 2022 have been outstanding and their achievements are phenomenal. They have shown great resilience and worked incredibly hard throughout a very tumultuous period. My thanks to all of our staff who go above and beyond to support them and prepare them in their subjects.”

“These are our best ever exam results in ‘normal times’,” he continued “and I am particularly proud to see how our bursary programme continues to have a life-changing impact, with so many of our bursary students going on to study some of the world’s best universities.”

At St Benedict’s School in Ealing 61.3% of all the exams taken have been graded A*/A. This is the highest proportion of top grades ever achieved at the school in a year when examinations were taken.

Nine students have achieved straight A* grades in at least 3 subjects, including James Hunter (Biology, Chemistry, French and Latin), Angelica Lawson (History, Latin and Physics), Richard Mercer (Economics, Geography and History) and Niall Wynne (Chemistry, Maths, Further Maths and Physics) - all of whom are taking up places at Oxford University. A further 24 students achieved straight A*/A in all subjects.

All five of the candidates with conditional offers from Oxford University have had their places confirmed and the majority of St Benedict’s students will now be heading off to a top 30 UK university, many to their first-choice institution.

Headmaster, Andrew Johnson, said, “It has been another really challenging year for examination candidates. I am hugely proud that St Benedict’s A Level students have worked so hard and have achieved such outstanding results across the whole range of subjects. They could not have achieved all this without the dedicated and excellent support of their teachers. These results continue the very strong upward trend in public exam results at St Benedict’s, and they are the best ever achieved in a year when examinations were taken under normal conditions.”

Results were strong across all subjects and were particularly impressive this year in History (87.5% A*/A), Art and Design (85.7% A*/A), English, Further Maths and Drama (all 83.3% A*/A).

At St Augustine's Priory a quarter of the marks given to girls at A Level were A* and 57% A/A* with 41% of the cohort receiving all A/A* and everyone taking History, Geography, Sociology and Art doing so.

Mrs Sarah Raffray, Headteacher said, ‘’We say that our girls will change the world. This cohort of A Level students is ready to do just that following their excellent A Level results received today”.

Of particular note are pupils like Melissa who achieved an A* in all three of her A Levels, plus an A* in her EPQ, Isabella who also achieved three A*s and an A in her EPQ, Tierney, who achieved A*, A and A, and Sofia, Siya, Mia and Anna who also achieved A*, A and A.

Isleworth & Syon School has highlighted the achievements of Ben Rawsthorne and Akeel Shah, who have earned two A*s and one A apiece. For Ben, this has landed him a place at the University of Sheffield. He is well-equipped for a history and politics degree, having led the Student Council for a year as Head Student. Akeel will continue his studies at the University of Warwick; his art, maths and physics A levels have prepared him for a future career in engineering. In fact, engineering is a popular career path for this year’s cohort. Three maths graduates - Tinashe Chituku, Shafayat Mustafa and Jason Zingapan – earned identical grades and will all head to the same university for engineering degrees. Their one A* and two As each have landed them places at the University of Southampton.

Three vocational students earned all Distinction*s – the highest possible grades. Both Curran Bains and Hayden Wilson took the CTEC qualification in sport and earned a Triple Distinction* each. They will both advance their studies of how sport can be applied in the real world, with physiotherapy and sports & exercise psychology degrees respectively.. Darshpreet Brar took CTECs in business (Distinction* and Distinction*) and applied science (Distinction*) – in September he will read business management at Queen Mary. Arham Jan focused more on IT, earning a Double Distinction* in the CTEC course along with an extra Distinction in applied science. He is going to Brunel University to read computer science.

Headteacher Euan Ferguson commented, “Our young people have coped admirably over the past two years and demonstrated remarkable resilience and a great work ethic. They fully deserve to head off to some of the best universities in the country. We are also delighted that many will enter the world of work via some outstanding apprenticeship routes.

“These young people are inspiring and talented, and we are proud to have helped them on their journey to adulthood. They join some already illustrious alumni, and we look forward to hearing of their future achievements.”

Overall top grades for A-level results for England, Wales and Northern Ireland have fallen since last year – with 36.4% of all grades marked at A* or A. This is still higher than 2019 – the last time results were based on students taking exams.

In 2020 and 2021 grades were higher but these were passed on teacher assessment.

August 19, 2022