Students across Telford & Wrekin today scored record-breaking A-level results as the national pass rate rose for the 25th year in a row.
For the first time the proportion of exams awarded A grades reached one in four – success reflected across the county.
Schools and colleges were delighted by high pass rates and councillors praised students’ achievements. New College in Wellington notched up a 97 per cent pass rate.
The college, the borough’s biggest A-Level centre, also achieved A-C grades in 67 per cent of exams.
Vice-principal Beverly Tyley said: “The staff and governors are absolutely delighted for all of those students who achieved such outstanding results again this year.
“Student life is more challenging these days and their success is a culmination of a lot of hard work and determination.”
At Adams’ Grammar School, Newport, the 122 pupils passed 99 per cent of their exams and achieved A-B grades in 74.5 per cent.
Headmaster Jim Richardson said: “The school has seen a consistent and substantial improvement in the quality of its A-Level results over the past 14 years. I am pleased to say this has been another record year.”
Wrekin College scored a 100 per cent pass rate and 83 per cent of passes were at A-C grade. At Blessed Robert Johnson Catholic College, Wellington, the pass rate was 98 per cent and the A-B rate was 37 per cent.
Among its students were Matthew Rhodes, of Aqueduct, who scored four A grades and will now study biochemistry at Exeter College, Oxford, and Michael Anderson, from Little Dawley, who earned three As and a B, and will read architecture at Churchill College, Cambridge.
Newport Girls High achieved an overall pass rate of 98 per cent, with 25 per cent of students achieving A-grades in three subjects or more.
Councillor Ian Fletcher, Telford & Wrekin Council’s cabinet member for children & young people, said: “We would like to congratulate all the students today.”
Picture: Celebrating their A-level results at New College, Telford, are Verity Brown, who got a distinction, one A and one B grade and Gill Clarksin, who got a distinction, B grade and two C grades.
See tonight’s 12-page supplement on careers and education.
By Dave West
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7 Comments
Oh what a surprise. Our youngsters just get brighter and brighter, and the Government plays the old ’shame to undermine their performance’ card when challenged.
Of course teachers are going to ’strongly defend’ the system, its in their own interests to do so, and lets face it thats the only interests they care about these days.
In business we see the results of their efforts coming through each year. They cant read or write properly half the time but they all did well in their exams. Its about time we stopped this pretence, standards are falling, and no amount of dumbing down of the exams can hide that fact. Our education system is in tatters, the good teachers have grabbed the early retirement that was offered and we are left with the dregs.
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What a bloody cynic! I’d like to see this prat put in the effort that the students of today are putting in through both course work and study in order to get a start in life. If he was so clever he would know that there is an apostrophe in that’s, can’t and it’s.
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I do find it hard to believe that standards are not slipping, but not exclusively on the grounds of higher grades. When i was doing my A’Levels around 10 years ago it was only possible to study for three A’levels unless you were an exceptional student and to study four was not a common thing! However in the last couple of years everyone seems to be studying four A’levels.
What needs to be considered is the reason for the change in standards. It will not benefit the students because everyone from that the respective year would have sat the same exams so inflated results would have no real consequence on university admissions etc, and year on year advances are negligible. Increasing grades could help to increase political profile of the beautiful minds that run this country. So are polititians the real winners here?
Appologies for being cynical, and I of course congratulate all that did well. x
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I took my A-levels 12 years ago and I know I can account for all my friends at sixth form that we all worked extremely hard to get through them but even then only a small minority came out with all A passes. It does make you wonder if they have become easier over the years???
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Spoken like a true teacher Steve, and clearly indicative of the fallen standards in the profession, that you have to resort to petty name calling when someone voices an opinion you dont like. You may not have noticed, but the punctuation you describe, although correct, is generally no longer used on internet discussion sites.
I put in every effort when I was at school, although when I did A levels we were not allowed to take more than 4 as it was not possible to fit the required lessons into the timetable. As it was, I recall having lessons every lunchtime. I really dont know how children now can successfully pass 6 or more if they are indeed as difficult.
As for my cynicism, in my professional capacity I have interviewed hundreds of young people who have achieved numerous GCSEs and A levels, and their lack of knowledge on the subjects they are supposed to have mastered is astounding. Grade A at A level Maths and they reach for a calculator to add two numbers together !!
Goverment ministers and teachers can bluster all they want about what a fantastic job they’re doing, but they fool not only themselves, but sadly our children who go into the World believing they will get good jobs with their worthless bits of paper, only to be disillusioned.
I’d rather be a prat than a conman.
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Well said David. I to have had the misfortune of interviewing kids with strings of A levels only to find unfortunately common sense is not on the syllabus these days.
How can a young person with A levels in this that and the other not be able to add three numbers in their head or spell the simplest of words.
If I have made any spelling or grammar errors here I am sure Steve will correct them for me.
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Lets not confuse academic ability with modern dy laziness induced by technology.
Poor spelling is the result of spellchecking functionality on computers, so we cannot issue blame here. Although not an excuse, computers are used frequently these days so is less relevent than academic ability. To some extent the same can be said for maths, with time saving formulae easily programmable into simple office applicatons, saving time and increasing efficieny.
So common sense versus accademic ability is really semantics.
Any accademic wanting to tear me apart for my comment above is more than welcome, as I am of course poorly educated myself!
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