Students celebrate record A-Levels

HIGHER tuition fees have not deterred students from going to university as schools across Redditch and Alcester celebrated record A-Level results.

While applications may be down nationally after the Government's decision to allow universities to charge up to £9,000 a year for courses, the issue was not a major factor for students locally who were instead focused on celebrating their record breaking success.

Arrow Vale Community High School performed particularly well recording its best ever set of A-Level results and with an average points per entry score of 228.7, making it one of the best sixth form centres in Worcestershire.

Among the outstanding performers was George Brazil who got the equivalent of three A* and an A in Music, ICT and Applied Business and is now off to study at Sheffield University.

Jodie Wollacott is off to Northampton University after getting an A, A* and a C while Joanna Edwards came away with the equivalent of two A* and a C and will be studying at Birmingham University.

Although there was no sign the increase in tuition fees was deterring students others were opting for other routes such as Jared Lecouteur who is set to take up an apprenticeship in marketing and business administration.

Headteacher Guy Shears said students were making more informed choices when it came to applying for university.

"They are more savvy and it's much more of a conscious choice. They want to get on the right courses to get the right qualifications to do what they want," he said.

"We are delighted with the students results, they have achieved the best results ever by some way and are all progressing to high quality destinations and this is down to their hard work supported by excellent staff."

The overall pass rate at Kingsley College was 96 per cent, with the school's percentage of A* to C grades increasing to 65 per cent.

Headteacher Stephen Brownlow said: "All our students have worked tremendously hard and it is wonderful to see so many of them able to pursue their chosen course or employment route.

"We are very proud of their achievements and wish them all the very best for the future."

Students at Trinity High School also had plenty to celebrate with 17 of their A-Level courses achieving a 100 per cent pass rate and the best ever average point score per entry at 200 points.

Nearly all of the 85 per cent of students which applied to university secured their place and other pupils have also opted to take up an apprenticeship, including with Landrover Jaguar.

St Augustine's headteacher Yvonne Brennan bowed out on a high as her last results day before retiring saw 100 per cent of students achieving a minimum of three A-Level grades, with business studies proving particularly successful with 19 A* grades.

Charlotte Haynes will be studying English at the University of Exeter after picking up an A*, two As and a B.

She said: "All the hard work has paid off. I'm so excited to be going to university. It's going to be scary but I can't wait."

Mrs Brennan added: "I'm very proud of all the Year 13 students this year. Our results are another record set and I just want to thank all of the staff and the students for their hard work."

At Alcester Grammar School the points per entry score had risen for the fifth consecutive year and 63.1 per cent of pupils had achieved A* to B grades.

Their 100 per cent pass rate included 11 students who will go on to Oxford or Cambridge.

Headteacher Iain Blaikie said: "There was a massive swing in gender with males outperforming females for the first time in recent memory - the top 12 students out of 240 entries were boys.

"We all owe our dedicated staff an enormous debt of gratitude. Our former student and Olympian Andy Pozzi reached great heights, this week it's the turn of these terrific students to win their own medals."

Buy photos» Some of Kingsley’s top performers - Tom Davis, Will Gregory, Manpreet Braich and Alex Potts. (s)

Buy photos» St Augustine’s pupils James Hammond, Adam Collins, Charlotte Haynes and Laura Woodall show off their results with headteacher Yvonne Brennan. (s)

Buy photos» Trinity High School’s Jack Cridge, Ifrah Hussain, Danielle Nevitt and Tom Walshe (s)

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