Chiswick Sixth Formers Buck National Trend with Excellent Results

Lots of higher A Level grades at local schools

Chiswick School students as they found out their grades

August 20, 2023

A Level and Level 3 Vocational students at Chiswick School have performed relatively well despite a tougher marking across the country.

55% of students who studied Maths A Level awarded an A*-A grade. 33% of grades in all subjects were awarded A*-A which is significantly above the national average. 87% of all the grades were at A*-C set against a national backdrop where results were lower after three years of record increases.

For many of the students, this was the first set of public exams they ever sat but, on the back of these results, students’ destinations include Oxford or Cambridge plus an array of Russell Group universities, apprenticeships, employment and gap years spent volunteering and travelling.

Head Students Amber and Max are both heading to their first choice universities in September. Amber to the University of Leeds to study Biology after obtaining A*AAB and Max to the University of Manchester to study Politics and International Relations after obtaining ABB.

Some other top performers include:
• Zoe A*,A A* will be studying Philosophy and Linguistics at University of Oxford
• Xing A* A* A*, A* will be studying Mathematics at University of Cambridge
• Mohamed A, A,A will be studying medicine at University of Nottingham
• Kyran A*A*,A will be studying Engineering at University of Sheffield
• Sarah, A*A,A,A will be studying English Literature at University of Leeds
• Abdirahman A A A will be studying Chemical Engineering at Queen Mary University
• Jack A*AA will be studying Engineering at Durham University
• Ruby A*AA will be studying Economics and Politics at University of Leeds
• Zeenat AAA will be studying Psychology at University of Warwick
• Alissa A*A*A will be studying Psychology at University of Southampton
• Huda A*AA will be studying Neuroscience at Kings College London
• Matilda A*AA will be study Chemistry
• Olly AAA will be studying music at The Guildhall

Headteacher Laura Ellener said, “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. Over 50% of all grades in Maths, chemistry, history and philosophy were A*-A which is remarkable and shows that we are well on the way to achieving our dream. These results represent the hard work and determination of students, their families and the staff at Chiswick School.”

Deputy Headteacher, Graham McNamara added, "We are immensely proud to announce this year's outstanding A-level results, a testament to the unwavering dedication and commitment of both our students and staff. Despite the challenges faced, our students have once again risen above and shone brilliantly, showcasing not just academic excellence but resilience and determination. We celebrate each individual's achievements and look forward to seeing the remarkable contributions they will undoubtedly make in the future. Congratulations to all!"

West London Free School (WLFS) students received their best set of A-level results ever, and will be continuing their studies at some of the world’s best universities with over three quarters obtaining their first choice. Just under half of all grades are A* or A, and one in four students have achieved straight As and A*s. 48% were graded A* to A (compared with 45% in 2022), 77% were graded A* to B (compared with 73% in 2022) and 91% were graded A* to C (the same as 2022).

Bursary students from a disadvantaged background have achieved places to study at Durham University , University of Leeds and the University of Surrey, seven WLFS students will be attending Oxford or Cambridge, and one has achieved a place to study at both Columbia University in New York and Sciences Po in France.

Ben McLaughlin and Robert Peal, Joint Headteachers at the WLFS, have said, ‘We are absolutely thrilled that students at the WLFS have achieved our best ever set of A-level results, despite headlines suggesting that top grades would go down this year. This is an incredible achievement, about which our students, their families and everyone working at the School should be extremely proud. At the WLFS, we teach the values of hard work and highs standards, and these outcomes are the result.’

Mr Kevin Burke, Headteacher of Gunnersbury Catholic School, said, “We’re absolutely delighted for our students for achieving such fantastic A-Level and BTEC results. Throughout their years at Gunnersbury, they have worked exceptionally hard, engaged superbly with their teachers in learning, and have always been exceptionally supportive of their fellow classmates. They are an absolute credit to their families and our school. With great pride, we say goodbye to these young women and young men as they leave Gunnersbury to start their university lives or to take up apprenticeship programmes. We wish them well and look forward to hearing of their future success.”

At Latymer Upper School there was a total of 233 A*s and 231 A grades with 93% of all grades being A*-B. 25 students recorded three or more straight A*s of which 7 achieved four of the very top grades.

89% of students at the school will now be going to their first choice university, including Yale, Brown, Oxford and Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh, Imperial, LSE, St Andrew’s and UCL.

“This is the best set of results in ‘normal times’ ever achieved by Latymerians,” said the Head, Mr Goodhew. “I am absolutely thrilled for all of our students and staff, who have worked so hard over these last two years. This is wonderful recognition of their endeavours. This multi-talented year group are now going on to study a wide range of courses at some of the world’s leading universities both in the UK and abroad. ”

Among the students celebrating all A*s today is Matilda, who has achieved the highest marks in the country in both Chemistry and Biology A Level. She takes up her place at Imperial College to study Biological Sciences with Spanish.

“I couldn’t be more proud of Matilda,” Mr Goodhew continued. “For her to have achieved the highest mark in the country, in two subjects, is phenomenal. She fully deserves this accolade, which completes an exceptional year for her, having qualified for, and won Silver at the recent International Biology Olympiad.” Matilda will be joined at Imperial by Camille, who also got straight A*s and will be studying Microbiology.

Matilda (centre) with her teachers

“Our boys and girls have done incredibly well in STEM subjects and STEP papers, including Physics,” said Mr Goodhew. 40 students are now going on to study degree subjects in STEM. Like Matilda and Camille, Iris, Nina, Jasmine, Sofia, Ellen, Saskia, Olivia, Nikki and Louise all got straight A*s. Sofia now takes up a place at Cambridge (Jesus) to study Maths. After getting straight A*s Ellie will be studying Computer Science at Oxford (Worcester) as will Hugh (Balliol) and they will be joined there by School Vice Captain, Daniel from Chiswick who got straight A*s and will now study Physics (Merton) and Amitai (Wadham) taking Maths and Philosophy.

“Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we are also able to offer places at Latymer to children fleeing conflicts around the world. I’m absolutely delighted for Tymur who joined us from Ukraine and despite only studying for his A Levels for the last 8 months has achieved A, C and D in Music, Physics and Maths and will now go on to Tonmeister, on the best Sound Recording course in the country!”

At St Benedict’s in Ealing nine students have achieved straight A* grades in at least 3 subjects, including Eleanor Bowden (English Literature, History and Sociology), Thomas Gordon (Mathematics, Further Mathematics and Physics), and Alice Jenkins (Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics), all of whom are taking up places at Cambridge University. A further 11 students achieved straight A*/A in at least three subjects. The majority of St Benedict’s students will now be heading off to a top 30 UK university, very many to their first-choice institution.

Headmaster, Andrew Johnson, said, “I am hugely proud that St Benedict’s A Level students have worked so hard and have achieved excellent 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 strong upward trend in public exam results at St Benedict’s: the proportion of A* grades (16.3%), and the proportion of A*-B grades (77%) are the best ever achieved in a year when the full A level grading standards have been applied.

Results were strong across all subjects, and were particularly impressive this year in Art & Design (83.3% A*-A), Chemistry (50% A*-A), Geography (48.3% A*-A) and History (47.6% A*-A).

St Augustine’s Priory has exceeded its 2018 and 2019 results with 38% of grades being awarded at A* and A.

In this, the first completely normal year of examinations since 2019, the school achieved all A*s and As in Art and Design, English Literature, Drama, Photography and Geography, with one Year 12 pupil achieving an A* in Mathematics at A Level.

Students are looking forward to going to top universities, with their out-going Head Girl off to read History at Cambridge with grades of A*, A* and A and an A* in her EPQ and Deputy Head Girl achieving a place studying Veterinary Medicine at Nottingham University. A wide and diverse range of subjects are being studied at other universities, from Architecture via Biomedicine, Computer Science and Sociology to Veterinary Nursing at universities such as Durham, Central St Martins, Hartpury, Queen Mary and Bath. The school is particularly proud that students who have been instrumental in developing its unique farm will be pursuing courses in veterinary sciences.

Mrs Christine Macallister, Headteacher said , “We are so pleased to see our young women heading off into the world to make their mark and continue their story. They have been a tremendous year group and an inspiration to the younger girls in the school. These young women have shown that it is possible to come through a pandemic and excel; they are resilient with a love of learning and are now ready to embrace the exciting challenges that await them at university and beyond. Congratulations to them all!”

Councillor Lily Bath, Hounslow Council Cabinet Member for Education, Children, Skills and Employment, was with students from the Gunnersbury Catholic School as they received their results and said: “I want to congratulate our students in Hounslow for their incredible effort. Over 75% of A-Levels awarded were achieved at the top grades of A*- C. They have worked so hard and we are very proud of what they have achieved. I would also like to thank our teachers who work tirelessly to deliver the very best outcomes for our students. We are so fortunate that in Hounslow all our secondary schools are recognised by Ofsted as either ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’. I wish all the students the very best for the future.”

“As we emerge from the recent global pandemic, we recognise the significant impact on our young people both in terms of disruption to learning and in being able to gain opportunities to develop the skills and experience to secure future employment.

"For this reason, Hounslow Council has recently launched the Youth Skills and Employment Guarantee (YSEG). Working in partnership with local business, education providers and the voluntary sector, we plan to significantly increase pathways into employment, removing barriers where these exist and enabling all our young people to secure successful careers. I encourage everyone to visit the YSEG website to find out more.”

Nationally, the proportion of A or A* grades awarded dropped to 27.2% compared to a peak of 44.8% during the pandemic meaning that 100,000 fewer grades were given out at this level.

This brings the level of top grades closer to 2019, the year before Covid-19 when it was 25.4%.

UCAS says that, for the UK as a whole, 79% of those taking A Levels this year gained a place at their first-choice university.