St Bede’s celebrates A level results

From the academic to the artistic, St Bede’s students are celebrating many personal successes along with a four per cent increase on last year’s A grades.

Seventy-one per cent of students sitting Economics, considered one of the most difficult A levels, achieved A or A* grades, as did 86% of those who studied German, 60% who studied French and 45% who took Further Maths.

The Art Department at St Bede’s, rated by The Good Schools Guide as one of the very best in the country, as usual achieved stunning results with 63% of students gaining A* or A in both Art and Photography and over 70% achieving A*-B in Graphic Design. Students studying within the Legat School of Dance achieved 100% A*s at Dance A level.

This is the first year examinations for the Cambridge Pre-U, an innovative and testing qualification, have taken place. As ever, St Bede’s has been at the vanguard, with students taking English Literature this summer, 50% of them gaining distinctions – the highest award. Pre-U is a two year course, examinable at the end of the course. St Bede’s students are already one year into a Government and Politics course and new subjects are being added to the curriculum this September.

Twenty-two students who followed BTEC courses in Music Performance, Music Technology or Sport achieved distinctions – the equivalent of an A grade.

St Bede’s has always prided itself on its rich and varied intake of students and the huge range of courses offered in the Sixth Form, over 50, has helped to contribute to an overall pass rate of 97%, ensuring that most students will be able to take up their first choice of university and college offers.

Felix Winstone won A*s in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Economics to add to his A in Latin last year, before A* was introduced. A*s and As ensured that, amongst others, Henry Adelston is off to Exeter to read Law, Kelly Howard to Southampton to read Bio-Medical Science, Ben Noble to UCL to read Classics, Spencer Bennett to Imperial to read Biology and Katie Powell to Surrey to study Nutrition.

Sam Chamberlain who was a member of the St Bede’s U15 national tennis champions’ team and who helped to ensure St Bede’s U18 Boys Sussex title this summer, gained an A* in Economics, an A in History and a distinction in Pre-U English Literature.

St Bede’s Headmaster, Dr Richard Maloney said: ‘Our aim is to allow young people to excel and this year’s results demonstrate that we do exactly that. Through our commitment to curriculum innovation and personalised learning programmes, St Bede’s students are able to immerse themselves in areas of study that interest and stimulate them. When that interest is combined with first class teaching, outstanding results duly follow. I am enormously proud of our students and staff and see this year’s excellent crop of results as a springboard to even greater successes in the coming years.’