There were tears of joy and whoops of delight as pupils at St John’s School in Marlborough tore open those all-important brown envelopes this morning.
Against a backdrop of warnings of “volatility” in results following an overhaul of the exam system, local youngsters once again did considerably better than the national average.
Seventy nine percent of entries achieved an A* to C grade – well above the national average of 68.8 percent.
And 76 percent of pupils at the school – which OFSTED recently graded as Outstanding – got five or more grades at A* to C.
A laudable 27 students achieved ten or more A or A* grades, including Moira Connor, Darla Dryland, Rosie Good, Isabella Guillaume, Tom Knighton, Becki Nash, Luke Shields, Olivia Snell, Amber Tatham and Jake Whittaker, all of whom achieved at least six A* grades.
Budding neuroscientist Amber Tatham was celebrating an incredible 11 A* passes and an A. She’ll be staying on at St John’s to follow an International Baccalaureate with her friend Robyn Humphreys, a keen dancer who dreams of studying at the Royal Academy of Dance. She got three A* passes and eight As, and will be doing A Levels.
Moira Connor will be taking her nine A*s and three As to Dauntsey’s School at West Lavington to do A Levels, while Annsha Joseph, who got two A*s, eight As and a B and fancies a career in medicine, will be taking the International Baccalaureate at St John’s.
Helena France was delighted with her A*, six As, three Bs and a C. She’ll be doing the International Baccalaureate at St John’s and wants to train to be a midwife. Her friend Abbey Smith was just too nervous to open her results.
Also taking the International Baccalaureate route are future journalist or designer Darla Dryland, who got eight A*s and three As, and her friend Jasmine Brown, another budding neuroscientist, who achieved three A*s, seven As and a B.
In the battle of the sexes, girls once again did better than boys, with two-thirds of the best grades being achieved by young women.
Flying the flag for the Y chromosome were Luke Shields, who got one A**, six A*s, four As and a B, and will be taking the International Baccalaureate at St John’s, and Dan Furlong, a budding economist who achieved two A*s, five As, two Bs and two Cs, and will be taking A Levels at St John’s.
Rhys Rowlands scooped six As and five Bs, while Arthur Wilding, who wants to be a lawyer, got 10 B grades and a D. Both will be taking the International Baccalaureate at St John’s in September.
Principal Dr Patrick Hazlewood said: “We know these exams are being toughened up, and our students’ determination to succeed is a great testament to them.
“We are proud of how all of our students have developed over the last five years, from those who have achieved so many top grades to those who have battled through difficult personal circumstances to secure a college place or to gain a prestigious apprenticeship.”
The majority of St John’s students will stay on to study A-Levels, or the increasingly popular International Baccalaureate.