STUDENTS across Wokingham borough are waking up to another record-breaking A Level results day.
Schools across Wokingham and beyond are reporting record results, despite a change in the way A Levels have been taught.
Thirty students from Reading Blue Coat School scored all A* and A grades, with six all achieving the highest grade possible in every subject.
Amy Thompson and Matthew Roberts both achieved a clean sweep of 4 A*s. Head Girl Katy Lillie’s A* and 3 As confirmed her offer to study Medicine at Jesus College, Oxford. She said: “I’m so glad I was able to get my first choice.
“I’m planning to celebrate my results by going on a trip around Europe before I go to university in October.”
It was double joy for twin brothers James and Matthew Montgomery: James scored 3 A*s, while brother Matthew scooped 3 As. The brothers will now be attending the University of Sussex and the University of Bath.
Lifelong friends Matthew Roberts and Tim Forrer were chuffed to find out they had both done well enough to get into Durham University. Matthew picked up 4 A*s while Tim picked up 2A*s and an A.
Finishing his first full year as headteacher at the school, Jesse Elzinga said: “These results are fantastic and I am so proud of what our pupils and teachers have accomplished.
“As we move to linear A Levels and the government makes examinations more rigorous, I worried we might see a slight dip in our results. On the contrary, we have achieved the best results in the school’s history by a considerable margin.
“These record-breaking statistics are of course brilliant for the School, but the many individual success stories are also uplifting. I expect today that more of our pupils will be looking at upgrading their university place through the UCAS Adjustment process, rather than looking for places through Clearing.
“Congratulations to our leavers on these superb results and I wish them all the best as they embark on their university courses.”
Dr Kevin McGill, Blue Coat Acting Deputy Head (Academic) said: “My warmest congratulations to everyone in the school community for their hard work, care and dedication, which contributes directly to the outstanding success of our pupils.”
Outgoing headteacher at Bulmershe School, Emma Reynolds, said: “We are very proud to announce the best set of A level results in the history of the school.
“This tremendous achievement is despite the national turbulence and changes to exam structures introduced by the Government and I am particularly pleased to see such great results across the whole ability range- real testimony to the hard work of our students and staff.
“We wish our leavers all the best for their bright futures ahead and thank them for their many contributions to school life at Bulmershe.”
A quarter of students at the Woodlands Avenue school achieved grades of A* or A, and 45% of students achieved A* to B grades.
Students of note included Emma Carson, who achieved three A grades in Maths, Chemistry and Physics, and has been accepted into Warwick University to read Engineering.
Sachindri Gunasekara achieved three A grades in Psychology, English Literature and History. Sachindri has been accepted into Kings College London to read War Studies.
Dave Silong was surprised to achieve three A’s in Maths, Chemistry and Physics. Dave is hoping to be accepted to joint he RAF, but has also been accepted to Southampton University to read Mechanical Engineering.
Dave said: “I had no idea I was going to get these results. I really want to be a logistics officer in the RAF so to get an A in Maths will hopefully help.”
Students at The Emmbrook School have also fared exceptionally well in their results.
A total of 52% of students took home A* to B grades, and the school’s overall pass rate remained at 99.6%.
Headteacher Paul O’Neill said: “These results are a credit to all of our students’ hard work, their families support and the relentless commitment of their teachers to achieve the very best outcomes possible.
“This year in particular, we are delighted to have exceeded our ambitious targets for the proportion of grades achieved at the highest level. As our recent Ofsted report highlighted, we are determined that pupils should achieve outstanding results and our actions to secure this are driving rapid improvements across the school.”
Some of the top achievers include Anna Hewison, who took home 3 A*s in Biology, Chemistry and Maths, and Isabel Green who scored 2A*s and 2As.
Mr O’Neill added: “We are delighted by the success of our students, many of whom will be going on to prestigious universities, including our successful Oxbridge applicants.”
Sixth Formers at The Abbey School in Reading were also celebrating an ‘outstanding’ crop of results.
Music prefect Rore Disun-Odebode was thrilled to have achieved her place at Oxford
University to read Economics and Management having achieved A*s in Economics and
Maths and As in Further Maths and Music.
Rore joins 12 other Abbey students who will be heading to Oxbridge colleges in the new term.
Imogen Ramskill from Twyford, gained two A*s and one A securing her place at Oxford University to read Chemistry.
Damini Pithiya from Wokingham was ‘over the moon’ after gaining two As and a B. Damini will be heading off to Chester University to study Interior Design.
Students at Waingels College, in Woodley, also had a very successful year.
Headteacher Tom Bartlett said: “It’s very, very good. Better than last year, and they were our best results ever.
“It was step in the dark because of the changes that were made to the exams, but the students have risen to the occasion and we couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Head of Art, Sally Richardson was chuffed to see three of her textile students score A*s. She said: “These girls have gone above and beyond what is usually expected of A Level students: they have attended exhibitions and galleries, and the hours and hours of work they have put in has paid off.”
One of those students, PJ Virdee is now off to Nottingham Trent to study textiles, while her friend Moneka Prato will take a gap year. She said: “I have gained a placement working at a theatre, I’d really like to get into costume design.”
Girls at Queen Anne’s School, in Caversham, did incredibly well, with 100% of students passing their exams.
Headteacher Julia Harrington said: “We are all very proud of our girls and their results reflect what a fantastic year group they have been. They all have bright futures ahead of them as they go on to university, apprenticeships and voluntary work – they, along with their teachers should be congratulated”.
Olivia Dunseath, from Wokingham, achieved an A* in Biology and two As in
Chemistry and Mathematics. She will now go on to study Medicine at one of the UK’s
leading medicine institutions, University College London.
Students from Maiden Erlegh School, in Silverdale Road, were ecstatic with their results.
Amy Tren picked up 2A*s and an A which will see her take up a place at Leeds to study Mechnical Engineering.
She said: “I really loved the campus, and the staff in my department seemed really nice. I am so relieved to get my results, they are definitely better than I expected.”
Reuben Khoo is off to the University of Surrey to study Adult Nursing, while Isabelle Turner-Wilson is going to Manchester to study Physics and Maths.
Sophie Atherton couldn’t believe her eyes when she opened her envelope to reveal 3A*s. She will now go to Cambridge to read English Literature.
She said: “I was shocked, I wasn’t expecting it at all. I was sent a reading list by the university but I didn’t want to jinx it so I haven’t done any of it! I’d better get reading!”
Headteacher Mary Davis said: “The students did really well, it was the first year group to take the new exams so we didn’t want to expect, but they did very, very well.
“Everyone I speak to got into the university they wanted to go to, which is brilliant.”
Pupils at Bracknell & Wokingham College all passed their A Levels for the eighth year in a row.
An incredible 50% of students gained A* to B grades, while 80% passed with A* to C/
Head of A Levels, GCSEs and Creative Arts, Ginette Cox said: “Yet again, our students have done themselves proud by producing a fabulous set of results. This is testament to their hard work and the tireless efforts of teachers to support them.
“It was great to see students grow in confidence as they progressed through the year. All of the additional effort that students and teachers have put in, including all the additional revision sessions that were provided, has really paid pff. They have now been presented with terrific results, with some students achieving exceptional grades of triple A*.
“We aim to add value to every student that walks through our door so that when they leave they are ready for whatever they set their sights on, be it university or the world of work. We can help make that happen.”
Students at The Piggott School, in Wargrave, were celebrating the highest percentage of students gaining A* to B grades: 63%.
Headteacher Derren Gray said: “I am pleased to announce another outstanding set of A Level and Level 3 Vocational results for The Piggott School. Our students and staff work exceptionally hard and this is once again evidenced in each of our Academic, Applied General and Technical results.
“I wish all our students the very best for their future and thank all the teaching and support staff for their continued dedication and professionalism.”
There were a fantastic set of results down in Crowthorne at Edgbarrow School. An impressive 23.3% of students scored at least an A, with 99.6% of students passing overall.
Head of Sixth Form, Tony Evans said: “We are once again extremely proud of our amazing students, who have done fantastically well this year overall at A Level and in the Vocational subjects, despite all the upheaval and changes to the exam system.
“We are delighted that so many of them (at all ability levels) achieved their ambitious targets and, again, it was the manner in which they did it that was so impressive. We loved working with this group of lovely students and we wish them all the best for the coming years.”
Excited students arrived at Leighton Park School, in Shinfield Road, to discover that 20% of them had achieved at least an A in three or more subjects.
Headteacher Nigel Williams said: “I am delighted that so many of our students achieved the highest grades.
“I am particularly pleased this year to see that one in five were awarded exclusively A grades or higher.”
Top student Runbei Cheng, whose 3A*s in Physics, Maths and Further Maths, confirm his place to read Physics at Wadham College, Oxford, said: “I’ve wanted to study Physics since I was 14 and plan to go on to do a PhD and then gain a Fellowship in Quantum Computing. I’ve been studying extra physics modules during my studies and am looking forward to getting started at Oxford.”
Rowan Taylor, 14, was the school’s youngest AS Level candidate, achieving a grade B in Creative Writing.
Rowan said: “I love writing and would like to continue, maybe onto an EPQ next; I’d like to write a novella.”
A total of 57 students sat their exams at the school, with 80% scoring A* to C.
Click here to see how all of Wokingham’s schools got on.
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