Thursday 18th August was A-Level and BTEC results day for our Year 13 students and they were incredibly successful.
Our students are moving on to a wide-variety of exciting destinations ranging from Russell Group universities to prestigious apprenticeships with employers including Mercedes-Benz. Of particular note is Abrar who will be the first pupil ever from the school to gain a place at Oxbridge. Abrar will be going to study History at Cambridge University after she achieved two A* grades and one A grade in History, Psychology and Sociology.
Our success in recent years in preparing pupils to study medicine at university was also continued. The large cohort from last year who went to study medicine at the University of Birmingham will be joined by Hafsa and Sahdia when they begin their studies in the autumn. Hafsa achieved two A* grades and one A grade in Biology, Chemistry and RE, and Sadia achieved four A grades in Biology, Chemistry, Sociology and RE.
The success of our vocational pathways has also been evident. Most notably, Arif has a place to study Law at the University of Sheffield after achieving three starred distinctions in BTEC Business.
Students from the cohort will be spread far and wide across the country representing the academy in the year ahead, with some as far afield as the famous London School of Economics in central London and others as far north as the top-rated Durham University.
As well as those studying medicine and other courses at Birmingham University, we will also again have large numbers starting on courses at our local universities, including Aston University and Birmingham City University.
There is so much for our whole community to be very proud about.
And, even though we know that this year grade boundaries are not quite back to normal, and school comparison is very complicated, our overall results appear to be some of our best ever. In particular, Humanities A-Levels enjoyed significant success: 100% of the grades achieved in RE were B grade or higher, including almost half being A or A*. Similarly in History, 75% of the grades were A or A*.
Most impressive was our BTEC Business cohort where almost every grade achieved was Distinction* or Distinction.
Our sixth form is an exciting place to work and to learn. It is a place where our students achieve excellent grades and are well-prepared to succeed at exciting destinations. To find out more about our Sixth Form, email sixthform@arkstalbans.org or visit our open evening on Thursday 13th October at 4pm.