Town’s A Level results “better than ever”

INITIAL results from Warrington’s schools and colleges show that A-Level students across the borough have done better than ever.

Almost 75 per cent of students achieved A*- C grades, up from 73.5 per cent last year, and 99.9 per cent achieved A*- E grades, above the national pass rate of 98 per cent.

The good news continued with an improvement on the number of total points per Warrington student, ensuring better opportunities for those going into higher education.

There were also some outstanding individual success stories for young people in the borough, with four Warrington students achieving three grade A*.

Cllr Jean Carter, the borough council’s lead member for children’s services, said: “This is fantastic news for Warrington. I’d like to congratulate our young people for their wonderful academic achievements.

“This is the outcome of two years of hard study, supported by the staff within our schools and colleges, and parents and carers who continue to support and challenge young people to do their best.

“Our results show that Warrington continues to be a borough where we have the highest quality of education, providing young people with the best foundations to take that next step into higher education, employment or onto an apprenticeship. We wish all of our students the very best of luck in achieving their future career aspirations.”

Individual schools and colleges were delighted with their results

At Lymm High School, 24 per cent of all exam entries received A* or A grades. In addition, 52 per cent of all grades awarded were A*-B grades and 82 per cent at A*-C. The pass rate remained extremely high at 99 per cent.

Students singled out for special mention included Eleanor Anderson (AAA), Timothy Cooper (AAA), Thomas Gregson (A*AA),  Eleanor Harrison (A*AA), Myles Jones (A*AA), Ciara McEvoy (A*A*A*); Sam Smith (A*AA), Isabel Troth (A*A*A*), Joshua Wadsworth (A*AA), Michael Walshe (A*AA) and Eleanor Ormerod (A*AAB).

There were also high levels of success with Level 3 Vocational qualifications, with particular mention going to Abby Jones for achieving a Triple Distinction* grade in Sports Studies.

Hayley Edwards, head of Sixth Form, said: “We are extremely proud of our students’ success; they have worked incredibly hard for these results and it is wonderful to see so many students moving on to exciting futures at university, in apprenticeships and other training courses or employment. We wish all of our students the very best for the future and hope that they will stay in touch with us.”

Head teacher Gwyn Williams, added: “These are a very strong set of results. We are delighted for the individual students who have done so well and, at the whole-school level, we are especially pleased to see a significant improvement in terms of value added compared to students’ starting points.

“Initial data suggests our students have made progress in the Sixth Form equivalent to around the top 25 per cent of schools or colleges with similar cohorts. This represents a big step forward and we are already very excited about what our young people can achieve in future years.”

Barrow Hall College, at Great Sankey, was also celebrating.
Overall almost 50 per cent of all grades were the top grades of A*, A and B, with almost 70 per cent of Btec students achieving the top grades of Distinction or Distinction *.  Twenty per centof all students gained three A*-B grades.

Student Katie Mercer said:  “I am really happy with my results especially my A for Philosophy and Ethics.  I’m now off to Liverpool to study History and Law.”
Jake Robinson gained a place to study Maths at Loughborough and said “I am delighted I got A* in A’level Maths”

Chris Whittall achieve three A* grades and gained a place at St John’s in Cambridge to study Maths and aspiring Doctor Dan Robinson is off to study Medicine at Liverpool.  Megan Bailey achieved two A*s and an A and will be studying Photography at MMU.  Olivia Sygrove is off to study Politics at Edinburgh having gained A*, A, B.  Matt Diable gained two A* and an A grade and is off to study Chemistry at Liverpool.

BTEC student Michael Lyons achieved two Distinction* and a Distinction and is now an apprentice with EMR and Sarah Jamieson achieved two Distinction*s and is now an apprentice with Hays Travel.
Head teacher Paula Crawley said: “On a day when the BBC warned of volatility in A’level results we are delighted to see our students succeed and achieve their university places. We wish them all the very best in their next steps”

Executive head teacher Jon Wright added: “It is great to see so many happy faces, both our A level and BTEC students have performed incredibly well.”

Future Tech Studio are celebrating after picking up the school’s first complete set of Level 3 Vocational and A Level results, with a staggering 100% achievement in Level 3 vocational courses across the board.

Principal Gail Stonier hailed the results as ‘phenomenal’ as they showed the rapid improvement made this academic year and praised the hard work and dedication of both students and staff over the past 12 months. This improvement equates to a 40% increase in AS success compared to last year.

Level 3 vocational success is outstanding with 45% of FTS students gaining the highest possible marks of Distinction / Distinction*, which is equivalent to gaining AAA at A Level.

In Engineering, 93% of students gained Distinction / Distinction* and 62.5% achieved above their target grade making this outstanding progress.

In Business, 66% of students gained Distinction / Distinction*, with 30% achieving above their target grade. And in IT, 49% of students gained Distinction / Distinction*, with 24% above target.

Among the students picking up their results today was Tom Lawrenson, who gained his L3 Core maths qualification as well as passing his AAT Accounting and a Distinction, Merit, Merit in his specialist Business pathway. He is now looking forward to progressing onto an Accounting apprenticeship.

Another star student receiving his results today was Jamie Griffiths. Mum Lisa picked them up on his behalf. She said: “Jamie couldn’t pick them up himself as today is actually his first day at his new job – working as an Accounting Apprentice at Clear Sky.

“Being at Future Tech Studio has really help Jamie’s confidence. He was able to do a work placement with Golden Gates Housing through the school – they actually offered him a job too.”

Today’s results also demonstrated the excellent support and staff development opportunities at Future Tech, with Bradley Jackson, Development Coach at the school, also gaining his AS Maths and will be going on to Edge Hill University to do his PGCE in Maths.

Meanwhile if young people are looking for guidance in relation to their next steps, education and employment advisers will be on hand at the “Your Future, Your Choice, Move On 2016” event on Thursday September 15 at Orford Jubilee Neighbourhood Hub, 4pm – 7pm.

Young people will be able to speak with professionals and apply for apprenticeships and employment vacancies. For further information, contact the Careers for Young People service on 01925 442211 or visit the website www.careersforyoungpeople.co.uk

Priestley College

NEARLY 600 young people collected A-Level results at Priestley College and were celebrating after two years of hard work and dedication.

For the twelfth consecutive year Priestley’s pass rate was over 99% with 100% passing in 39 subjects.

Principal Matthew Grant said the A-Level results followed another set of outstanding BTEC results earlier in the summer when Priestley saw a 100% pass rate in all extended diplomas.

“Our goal at Priestley is to inspire, challenge and support our students so that they achieve their full potential and the Class of 2016 have certainly delivered,” he said.

“What we are most proud of as a college is the consistency of our students’ achievements over the years and today we see another successful cohort leave to pursue university degrees, apprenticeships and employment.”

Students achieved nearly 200 As and A*s and an impressive overall 72% of grades were awarded at A* to C.

Among those who were celebrating was former Bridgewater High School pupil Holly Roach who collected an A* and two As and secured her place at Oxford University studying Biochemistry.

“It just doesn’t seem real right now,” she said, just moments after collecting her results.

Kyle Kirkpatrick, formerly of Bridgewater High School, collected three A*s and is headed to Durham University to study Politics while Charlotte Whittaker studied hard for two As and an A* and a place at Queen Mary University of London where she will focus on History and Politics.

Earlier this summer vocational students also delivered outstanding results and some of them were back to collect A-Level results today.

Among them was former Sir Thomas Boteler pupil Jack Burns who achieved double distinction*s in his Business BTEC and now has an A in A-Level Accounts to add to his CV.

Nick Gartland, who previously studied at St Ambrose in Hale Barns, earned a triple distinction* in his BTEC Extended Diploma in Performing Arts. He also added As in A-Level Music and Drama.

He’s now heading to Guildford School of Acting to study Musical Theatre and hopes to one day be performing on the West End stage.

“I’ve just always felt a sense of freedom when I perform,” said Nick. “I can’t wait to get started at Guildford.”