Outstanding 2009 GCSE and A-level Results

GCSE Results

There were jubilant scenes at The Kings of Wessex School on Thursday, as Year 11 students celebrated a record breaking bumper crop of GCSE results. We are very proud to be celebrating the fact that 81% of students in Year 11 achieved five or more A*-C grades in their exams – which completely eclipses the previous best and compares very favourably with the national result of 67%, said Assistant Headteacher Christian Hughes. In addition, the percentage of students achieving five or more A*-C grades including English and Maths broke all previous records at 70%, which represents an 18% increase from the previous year. This fantastic achievement comes hot on the heels of the school’s best ever A-level results. Mr Hughes praised the efforts of this year’s Year 11 students and their teachers. He said, “This has been a wonderfully successful year for The Kings of Wessex School. These young people have worked incredibly hard to achieve these impressive results and their success is based on the great team work at The Kings of Wessex. At the heart of these successes is the atmosphere of respect, co-operation and support that pervades the work of the school, underpinned by the highly successful mentoring programme introduced last year to support Year 11 students in pursuit of their GCSE goals. The staff at The Kings of Wessex should also be recognised for the characteristically whole-hearted commitment shown to ensure that these students fulfilled their potential.” As always, the headline figures do not tell the whole story as there were many achieving far beyond this, with many entered for up to 13 different subjects at GCSE level. The pass rate for all exams sat was 99%, with 26% of these being awarded the top grades of A*/A. The list of students who deserve to be mentioned individually grows every year as students surpass achievements from previous years, and all of our students deserve our warmest congratulations.

A-level Results

Students at The Kings of Wessex School are celebrating their best ever A-level results which saw an overall pass rate of 99% achieved. The national average for the highest grades was once again exceeded with 30.4% of A-level entries achieving grade A compared with 26% nationally. This cohort of students is also to be congratulated for setting another new record at Kings for the highest average point score per entry of 92.8 UCAS points. Most pleasingly 82% of grades achieved were C or better, another highly commendable achievement and a new record at Kings, exceeding the national figure of 75%. Clearly this cohort of students has performed excellently. Their magnificent achievements should be widely celebrated. Many individual students performed exceptionally well and are to be particularly congratulated. Ruth Laing (Wells), achieved an outstanding 5 grade A’s in her subjects and will be reading Natural Sciences at Trinity College, Cambridge. Seven students achieved the wonderful feat of 4 grade A’s in their subjects. They are: Maxwell Ash (Stone Allerton) who will read Mathematics at Warwick University; Thomas Day (Axbridge) who will study Economics at The London School of Economics; Timothy Dixon (Mark) embarking upon Biomedical Sciences at Sheffield University; Jake Hodgetts (Blackford) who will be going to York University to study Physics; Daniel Layton (Shipham) who will be studying Dentistry at Bristol University; Elizabeth Rabbitts (Wedmore) who will read Geography at Brasenose College, Oxford and Joshua Wilson (Weston-Super-Mare) who will be studying Biochemistry at Sheffield University. Another marvellous achievement was realised by 3 students who gained three grade A’s and a B in their subjects. They are: Steven Lukins (Cheddar), David Searle (East Brent) and Nicola Sentance (Cheddar), who are planning to study Mathematics at Peterhouse College, Cambridge; Law at Kings College, London and French and Linguistics at Sheffield University respectively. Similar achievements were made by a further 6 students who are to be highly commended for attaining 3 grade A’s. They are Rhiannon Evans (Mark) who will be studying History and Law at Keele University; Freya Gruffydd-Jones (Lympsham) embarking upon an Economics degree at Manchester University; Harry Lakin (Cheddar) who is taking a gap year; Matthew Read (Burnham-on-Sea) studying Physics with Astrophysics at Exeter University; Jonathan Talbot (Biddisham) reading Medicine at Cardiff University and Emma Weight who will study Chemistry at Manchester University. Assistant Headteacher Christian Hughes said, “This year group are to be highly commended upon their wonderful achievements. These are reflected by the fact that in total 106 A level grade A’s were awarded. These excellent A-level results reflect well on the hard work and dedication of both students and their teachers. They have done themselves, their parents, their villages and the school much credit. We are delighted that these students have fulfilled their potential and are able to take their places at university or embark on some exciting gap year experiences with a real sense of achievement and confidence. We wish them all the very best for a successful future”.