Celebrations as students receive their A-level results after 18 months of disruptions

Across the county, students were waiting with anticipation to open the letters which would reveal their A-level grades and determine whether they got into their chosen university or can pursue their chosen career.

The past 18 months have been the most disruptive in recent memory for schools and students, with online learning and self isolation becoming a part of everyday life.

Despite the challenges they faced, many students were overjoyed to receive their results and felt relief they had gotten through such a difficult year.

This year the grades were determined by teacher assessments, with teachers looking at mock exams, coursework, essays, in-class tests and other evidence from across the year to mark their students.

Summer exams were cancelled and students had to show their skills across the board in other assessments so teachers could determine their overall grades.

The teacher assessment move has faced scrutiny in the lead up to results day, as it has been revealed that 44.8 per cent of sixth formers were awarded A or A* grades this year, which is up 6.3 per cent on last year's 38.5 per cent.

Also, the number of students with A* grades rose by 19.1 per cent – the highest figure since A*s were introduced in 2010.

In Shropshire, students at The Grove School and Sixth Form in Market Drayton, arrived around 9am to pick up their results.

The sixth form was full of smiling faces and celebrations as the students opened their results and found out what was in store for them.

The emotions were clearly high for many as they looked back on what has been one of the most disruptive school years of their lives – all while looking forward to what the future will bring.

Jess Brown, 18, and her mother, Jo, were both emotional as they entered the school and found out Jess’s grades meant she could go to Cardiff University to study biology.

“One piece of paper just means so much,” Jess said, as she hugged and congratulated her friends on Tuesday. “I didn’t expect to get these results and I’m just so excited to be able to go to university and study biology, which is my favourite subject.”

Her mother, Jo, added: “I am very proud. The difficulty of being at home and doing it online, and now she has just pulled it out the bag, is amazing.”

Friends Jack Mccann, 18, Jack Churches, 17, Michael Allman, 18, and Thomas Heather, 18, arrived together to pick up their results and Michael said he didn’t know what to expect, but was pleased with his results which means he can go into cricket coaching.

Thomas, who achieved 4A*s, is looking forward to studying theoretical physics at Imperial College London.

He said: “I feel so much relief now I know my results and I can look forward to the next steps. I have always loved physics – it just explains things – and knowing I wanted to do it meant I could pick the right subjects all the way through school.”

Max Tabor, 17, achieved 1 A* and 4As and is going on to study medicine at the University of Bristol.

Max, who turns 18 this week, said he will be celebrating with his family after feeling “so relieved” to finally get his results.

“I have wanted to study medicine for basically as long as I can remember,” he said. “I took five subjects: chemistry, maths, further maths, biology and EPQ.”

Sonia Taylor, headteacher at The Grove School, said the students’ grades were a true reflection of their hard work and efforts throughout the year.

“This cohort of students had to go through most of their first year in remote studies,” she explained. “Then there was another lockdown over winter and more remote learning. So they have really had to show discipline and keep up their studies.

“They had to adapt to a different style of learning and then came back to know they wouldn’t be sitting summer exams.

“So they have been very much aware that every piece of work they do could go toward their final grade. So the fact their studies have been so disruptive, they have been absolutely brilliant.”

The teacher assessed grading this year has faced criticism after students’ grades rose substantially from previous years, but Ms Taylor said the marks have been scrutinised to a greater extent than even normal exams.

“The demand on students these past couple of months has been immense,” she said.

“It has been such a tough two years, and they deserve every single thing they get.

“I know some people speculate, but we have had a very robust moderating system.

“There have been more stringent moderations than even for normal exams, and teachers would always make sure the students don’t go on to a next step they couldn’t cope with. The grades are a true reflection of their hard work."

At Telford College the 7th Form saw an overall 11 per cent rise in high grades this year, with 100 per cent pass rates across three quarters of its curriculum areas, including English language and literature, further maths, physics, biology, chemistry, geography, economics, business studies, law, psychology, and computer science.

Principal and chief executive Graham Guest said: “We know how hard our students have worked over the past year in these challenging times, so it’s a real pleasure to see their efforts being rightly rewarded.

“We’ve been determined to ensure that no Telford College students are left behind as a result of the pandemic, and it’s been a real team effort.

“It is satisfying to see overall achievement for our AS and A-levels continue to rise, once again running comfortably above the national average.”

Aprille Rose, 19, from Hadley, got A*, A and B in her fine art, physics and maths A-levels, and now plans to study an architecture degree at Sheffield University.

The former Hadley Learning Community student said: “Fine art allowed me to become independent in projects and allowed me to explore my potential, maths was challenging, and the practicals in physics were both educational and fun.”

Kaycee Owen, 19, from St Georges, moved to Telford College from Madeley Academy after the first year of her A-levels, and achieved two A grades and a B from her maths, chemistry and biology studies.

She said: “I really enjoyed my A-levels at college. My teachers changed my perspective of learning – thoroughly. I am incredibly grateful for everything college has offered me.

“My teachers have supported my every dream and I’ll be forever grateful. They made me feel worthy of good grades with the hard work I put in – they go above and beyond for each one of us and we’re all very grateful.”

At Shrewsbury Colleges Group more than 57 per cent of students received an A* to B grade at A-level.

The overall pass rate was 99.9 per cent.

In total 107 students achieved AAA or better at A-level and 29 students achieved 3 or more A* grades.

The best performing students were Daisy Weston, Grace Stephenson, Hugh Lea, and Leo Ellis who all achieved an incredible 4 A* grades.

Daisy who studied Overseas before coming to SCG plans to study Ancient History at University of Birmingham. Grace, who is a former student of The Priory School, will go onto Durham University to read Mathematics and Hugh, who previously attended Corbet School, will be studying Mechanical Engineering at Lancaster University.

Leo who came to SCG from Bishops Castle plans to read Computer Science at University of Cambridge.

Nine students are progressing to either Oxford or Cambridge Universities and more than 720 students have places at university already confirmed.

SCG Principal, James Staniforth said: “Our students have had to cope with the situation that the Covid pandemic has presented, and they have risen to the challenges. They have shown tremendous resilience and flexibility throughout their time with the college, and they have quickly had to learn new skills like online learning and how to communicate digitally.”

As students at the Marches School in Oswestry collected their results its headteacher said pupils had shown great resolve throughout the challenges of the last 18 months.

Headteacher Alison Pearson said: “The work by students and staff and support from home has been significant in this challenging year. All have worked incredibly hard to adapt which has been seen in the results today. Everyone in our school community could not be more pleased with the outcomes.”

At Thomas Adams in Wem 66.1 per cent of this year's grades were at A* to B, with 100 per cent gaining their university place.

Headteacher, Mark Cooper, said: "We are absolutely thrilled, as these achievements are the result of a lot of hard work by both staff and students over the last two years, in what has been a challenging journey.

"I would like to congratulate the students and wish them every success as they move on to follow their ambitions. Our students are embarking upon undergraduate courses in diverse subjects such as Classics, Medicine, Celtic and Scandinavian Studies and Acoustic Engineering at universities such as Oxford, Warwick, York and Edinburgh. Others are off to begin competitive apprenticeships. There is such a wide variety of destinations, and there are many individual achievements at every level."

Head of School for Sir John Talbot’s Sixth Form in Whitchurch, Tim Stonall said students had shown great resilience in the face of the challenges thrown up by the pandemic.

He said: “This has been another year of uncertainty, but our staff and students have worked in harmony to ensure the very best outcomes. We have moved swiftly between face to face and remote learning ensuring students are supported. We want to wish all of our students every success for the future.”

At Newport Girls School 85 per cent of A-levels were graded A* to B with 65 per cent of these A* to A.

The school said its pass rate of 100 per cent was maintained.

Headteacher, Michael Scott paid tribute to the class of 2021 and their teachers, saying: "When this cohort moved into Year 12, no-one could have foreseen the difficulties they would have to face in three national lockdowns. Back in spring 2020, NGHS sprang into action with online learning provision for every subject and this has been reignited during each subsequent lockdown or period of isolation. The resolve of our Year 13s to battle on regardless and to continue producing work of exceptional quality is why we are delighted to be celebrating with them today.

"Their teachers have also gone way above and beyond what would normally be expected to grade and moderate set pieces of work. The JCQ and Exam Boards evaluated our approach and moderated students’ work and I was delighted to learn that they had no further questions for NGHS. Students can therefore be satisfied that their hard work and effort has been duly and fairly rewarded."

At Adcote School for Girls, near Shrewsbury, 73.5 per cent of results were the top grades of A* to A.

Nearly 58 per cent of candidates were awarded straight A*/A grades across the board – an increase of 16 per cent on last year’s results.

The overall pass rate was 100 per cent with 91.8 per cent of all results receiving grades A* to B.

Sixty-nine per cent of students have been accepted for top Russell Group universities with 54 per cent of degree courses chosen covering the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Headmistress Diane Browne said: “These results were subject to the highest levels of scrutiny and are testimony to the hard, conscientious work undertaken by our students.

“The amount of evidence that had to be submitted to support the veracity of these grades was far in excess of previous years and represented significant extra stress for this year's cohort of A-level students.

“The resilience they had to show is a credit to them and their universities are lucky to have them. We are thrilled for them all and so proud of them.”

In Mid Wales, Llanfyllin High School's headteacher Dewi Owen praised the efforts of students at the school – the first while it has been an all-age school.

He said: "Our congratulations go out to all our students who have achieved an excellent set of results under incredibly challenging circumstances this year. This is the first set of results for the school in its new incarnation as an all age school.

"These results will enable students to embark on degree courses at universities across the country with a number receiving scholarships at Aberystwyth and Bangor.

"We are delighted that all our students have gained a place at the University of their choice to study a range of courses including medical science, mathematics, sciences, humanities and the arts.

"We would particularly like to congratulate Niamh Jones who has secured a place at Oxford to study English.

"There were outstanding individual performances including twelve students who achieved all A* and A grades. These included: Arthur Jehu Davies – 3 A* and 1 A; Sion Lewis – 3 A* and 1 A; Twain Price - 3 A* and 1 A; Will Prust - 3 A* and 1 A; Ruth Jones – 2 A* and 2 A grades.

"At AS level there were some excellent performances with three students achieving all A grades. Ben Benson, Matthew Blowers and Ffion Davies all achieved 4 A grades – a remarkable achievement. We look forward to working with students towards their full A-levels over the coming year.

"Our students also enjoyed great success in vocational subjects taught at Llanfyllin including Health & Social Care, Business Studies, Engineering, Agriculture, IT and Sport.

"We are incredibly proud to see our students enjoy the reward of their hard work, especially as this has been such a challenging academic year for everyone. This success is due to a combination of factors: the fact that we are able to offer a wide curriculum in order to best meet students’ needs; the enthusiasm and commitment of our students; the hard work and dedication of our staff; and of course the amazing support and encouragement of parents and carers.

"We would like wish all our students every success in their future careers and studies."

Welshpool High School said it was delighted with the efforts of students.

A statement from the school said: "Particular mention must go to Ellie Bailey, Dylan de Zeeuw, Alice Baker, Sarah Jones and Carla Ellis who each achieved A* grades in all their subjects. Dylan takes up a place at the University of Oxford to read Law, while Ellie goes to the University of Liverpool to study Aerospace Engineering.

"Many congratulations to all Welshpool High School students as they move forward to university places, apprenticeships and employment. Thank you, also, to the dedicated staff who have helped our students achieve these tremendous results, as well as to parents for their continued support throughout the year."