Bishop's Stortford College students

Manchester High School for Girls

Ewell Castle School students

City of London School for Girls

More great A level results for country's independent schools

From Manchester to Surrey, schools are celebrating excellent exam results

Posted by Stephanie Broad | August 14, 2015 | School life

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• #a-level-results
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• #sixth-form

Haileybury is celebrating over half students’ grades a A* or A with record numbers of top grades. Pupils achieved the highest ever number of A* grades in the school’s history, with 58 A*s in total 

Over one third of the year group obtained at least 3 grades at A or A* level and 8 individuals obtained 3 or more A*s. Eight of the cohort will be going on to read a variety of courses at Cambridge and Oxford Colleges whilst other students will be heading off to other elite institutions including LSE, Imperial, Bristol and Durham University.

Simon Smith, Deputy Head (Academic) said: “However, the College also recognises the more widespread success of all our pupils and not just the more headline grabbing stories; each individual is celebrating their own personal triumphs. These grades have been achieved across a range of traditional and demanding STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths), Language, Humanities and Creative A Levels and they reflect the pupils’ tremendous efforts, the passion and professionalism of the staff and the support of our parent body.” 

Bedford Modern School students are celebrating the school’s highest ever percentage of A* grades at A Level achieving 22% up 6% on last year. 96% of students obtained grades A*- C.

Michael Hall, Headmaster, said: “I could not be more delighted with this incredible set of results which has surpassed my expectations. To achieve 83% of grades at A*- B is outstanding but 22% of grades at A* is quite exceptional. This is only possible when a mutually supportive relationship exists between students, parents and staff. Congratulations to everyone involved in this success but importantly to our students whose hard work has certainly paid off!”

Bedford Modern students Charlie and Pippa 

Manchester High School for Girls’ 2015 A level cohort has achieved the most successful set of examination results in the school’s 141-year existence.

More than three quarters of grades at Manchester’s oldest girls’ school were A* or A; with 98% of all grades attained in the A* to B range. 

Claire Hewitt, headmistress at Manchester High School for Girls, said: “The fact that this year’s senior sixth have secured the best A-level results in our history leaves me in no doubt that these young women are the leaders of tomorrow. Not only have they applied themselves to their studies but they have embraced the many extra-curricular opportunities available, from sport and charity work to music and the arts.”

Eighty-six percent of Derby High School students successfully completed an Extended Project Qualification and/or an A level in General Studies alongside their studies, which universities are known to take into account when deciding on final offers. 

Headteacher Denise Gould said: “Once again, we are extremely proud of the results of all our A-level candidates. They have worked exceptionally hard and have achieved personal success as a result of their genuine effort and hard work. 

 “These great results have been achieved alongside individual success in a wide range of additional activities designed to develop the skills valued by higher education establishments and employers alike.”  

Derby High student Amala

With an expanding co-educational sixth form, Ewell Castle School is pleased to see a continued improvement in A level results this year with 71.4% of results at A* - C, up from 62% last year and with an overall pass rate of 98.2%.

Principal Peter Harris commented: “I am thrilled that so many of our students have achieved the grades that they need to move on to the next stage in their education. This reflects the hard work and dedication of the students at Ewell Castle School and the contribution of a dedicated teaching staff.”

Bishop’s Stortford College students are celebrating a 100% pass rate. More than half of students achieved A* and A grades and 82% A*-B. All 10 Oxbridge candidates achieved the required grades to accept their places. 

Bishop's Stortford College Headmaster, Jeremy Gladwin, said: “I am extremely proud of the College’s 2015 A Level results; our pupils have risen to the challenge and achieved some outstanding grades. Once again 23% of our pupils gained the top A* grade and 23% achieving 2A* or more.  Notable successes were Art with 55%, Maths with 41% and History with 38% of pupils achieving A*. 

“Our pupils have triumphantly embraced the College’s all-round educational ethos by meeting a demanding academic curriculum alongside a busy extracurricular programme. My warmest congratulations to our Upper Sixth pupils for all their hard work. My thanks also go to the academic staff for their outstanding teaching and for supporting and encouraging them to realise their potential and build confidence for life.”

City of London School for Girls is pleased to report another successful year of AS-level and A-level results, with a 100% pass rate. The proportion of A*, A and B grades overall increased from 2014, as did the percentage of A*s awarded, with over two-thirds of the group achieving at least one A*. 

Headmistress, Ena Harrop, commented: “We are very pleased with the excellent exam results of the 2015 cohort of City girls. The girls continue to impress us all with their determination and the pride they take in their work. Their results show us what inspiring teaching coupled with a genuine thirst for learning can achieve. I am very grateful to staff for everything they have done for the girls. We are delighted that so many of the girls will now continue to pursue their academic interests at the universities of their choice. We know that CLSG has prepared them fantastically well to be life-long learners and to face up confidently to any challenges ahead.” 

Girls at Cheltenham Ladies’ College have been celebrating after achieving excellent A level results, with an A* to B rate of 91.9%. 

A total of 65 girls were awarded three or more A* or A grades (over 50% of all those sitting A levels) with 18 girls achieving three or more A* grades. Twenty-six girls completed Extended Project Qualifications (EPQs) of which 19 were at A*; topics ranged from law and politics to biology and theology. 

Eve Jardine-Young, Principal of Cheltenham Ladies’ College, said: “We are enormously proud of the girls and staff, whose hard work and inspiration has enabled these fantastic results.” 

Many pupils have secured places and scholarships at internationally leading UK and US universities to study a variety of courses. These include girls going on to study Medicine, Chemical Engineering, English Literature and Architecture at Cambridge, and Chemistry, Medicine, History, French and Chinese at Oxford, as well as Liberal Arts at Stamford, NYU, George Washington and Duke in USA.

Burgess Hill School for Girls saw over 80% of all entries awarded A* to B grades for the thirteenth consecutive year and 97% of all grades were A* to C. Most are excited to be heading off to their chosen universities, whilst others will pursue their gap year plans. 

Kathryn Bell, Head, said: “What is truly amazing is that these significant successes have been achieved alongside a well-rounded personalised education involving a huge range of extra-curricular activities. I know the girls will join me in congratulating and thanking their teachers who are truly brilliant with a real passion for teaching and learning. They have supported and nurtured the girls so that each and every student has reached her potential and helped them become who they are.” 

“We are particularly delighted with the full complement of A* grades gained by our EPQ students for the third consecutive year and the highly prized A* grades in French and Spanish which are recognised nationally as amongst the most difficult to achieve. With three quarters of the year group taking at least one science or mathematics A level, we are also proud to highlight the strength of the school in encouraging girls to pursue STEM subjects at school and university.”

Burgess Hill students celebrate

Loughborough High School are celebrating 121 A* and A grades, with three students achieving at least three A*s. 

Headmistress Gwen Byrom said: “As always, the girls at LHS have worked tremendously hard to gain their results - almost 80% of all grades awarded at A*- B, which is certainly worth celebrating!  We are delighted to be sending our girls into so many diverse career paths as a result of their achievements.  As always, the outcomes for our girls are very positive and we look forward to hearing about their future successes too!” 

Loughborough student Eesha and her proud mum

Shrewsbury School is celebrating its best ever year for A level results, with 86.1% of the exams awarded the top A*, A or B grades and 25% of all exams gaining the top A* grade. 

Nineteen pupils gained at least 3 A* grades and 55 gained an A* or A in all their subjects.  

All 12 pupils at Shrewsbury School with offers from Oxford or Cambridge Universities achieved the required grades to meet their offers and will be taking up their places later this year. Headmaster, Mark Turner, expressed his delight at his pupils’ success:
“I am extremely proud of this year’s splendid collection of A level results, which are a tribute to the hard work of our pupils and staff alike.” 

Shrewsbury students with headmaster Mark Turner

For the fifth year in a row, more than 90% of St Albans School Abbey Gateway results were graded A*- B, the most widely-recognised measure of A level success. A* grades continued to account for around a quarter of all grades and the number of A* or A grades increased to over 65%.  

Congratulating the students and teachers, headmaster Jonathan Gillespie said: “With continued downward pressure on A Level grades nationally, we are delighted to see an increase in our A* and A grades which is greatly to the credit of our hard-working students as well as of our inspirational teaching staff. My warm congratulations go to our leavers together with my very best wishes for their university studies.” 

Over 20% of students Nottingham High School have achieved the top A* grade. 

Eight students have gained places at Oxford or Cambridge universities and many more have secured places to study competitive university subjects such as Medicine or Engineering. 

Nottingham High School headmaster, Kevin Fear, said: “These are exciting times for Nottingham High School with us welcoming our first intake of girls this September. I congratulate all of our students, their parents and their teachers on some excellent results again this year. Our students have a great deal to celebrate with approaching half of all passes at A* or A grade and these have enabled our students to access many of the top universities in the country.”

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