Grade improvements for St John’s ‘A’ level students in spite of tougher exams

St John’s Year 13 students achieved grade improvements in this year’s A-level results against a background of toughened up courses.  Whilst the average grade per entry showed a slight year-on-year increase over the previous year, even more students have achieved the top A or A* grades.

Almost all exams this year are the new linear courses, taken after two years of study and they have been toughened up following Government guidance.

As usual there are some fantastic individual successes.  James Inglis achieved an incredible four A* grades in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry and will now study Maths at Durham.  Lachie Fielding picked up 3 A* grades and will now study Engineering at Oxford. In total, 19 students achieved 3 A grades or better.  Joining Lachie at Oxford are Asher Sandbach who will study German and Linguistics, after 4 A grades, including French, German and Latin;  Alex Knighton who takes her A* and 3As to study Medicine and Charlie Christopher who achieved grades AAB and will study History.

As well as those off to university, many students are spending a year travelling or working to fund their future studies.  An increasingly popular route through further education is the higher apprenticeship:  Tom Amer achieved a Distinction in his Cambridge Technical Diploma, as well as 2 A-levels and he has an apprenticeship with a multinational company that means he gets paid work, his tuition fees fully funded by the company and they even pay him to study!

New Headteacher, Mr Dan Rogan said  “We are very proud of the achievements of all our students.  It has been a real challenge for everyone to adapt to the new style of linear exams and it is a great credit to our teachers, students and their parents that we have maintained our high standards.  I wish all of our students success as they progress to the next stage of their education, start jobs or explore the world.”

Final word must go to Jamie Flack’s proud dad, Garp, who said:  ”Final day of school over, now go travelling” which is exactly what Jamie wants to do before deciding how to use his excellent ‘A’ grades in the next stage of his life.