Strong A-level Performance for Wells Students

Wells students had much to celebrate on Thursday, with a very strong set of A-level results achieved by this year’s cohort. The overall pass rate for the 109 candidates was 99.1 per cent, with over three quarters achieving grades A* to B; nearly 50 per cent achieving grades A* to A (compared to a national average figure of 26 per cent); and almost 20 per cent gaining the top A* grade. Over a quarter of pupils achieved all A* and A grades, and nearly half the entrants achieved two or more A* and A grades. Nine students achieved three or more A* grades, including Emilie, Orlando, Gemma, Kaia, Oliver, Nicole, and Daria. Thomas and Benjamin, both achieved four A* grades. Six students will go on to colleges at Cambridge and Oxford Universities, where they will read a diverse variety of subjects. At Cambridge, Emilie will read Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at Trinity College; Blandine will read Natural Sciences at Queen’s College, she is also their organ scholar; Kaia will read Human, Social and Political Sciences at St Catharine’s College; and Dillon will read English at Gonville and Caius, and will also be a choral scholar at Trinity College. At Oxford, Orlando and Thomas will read Engineering at Oriel College and University College, respectively. Other pupils are going on to study a wide range of interesting and exciting subjects: from Medicine and Law, to Film Production and Philosophy. Over 90 per cent of Wells students have achieved the grades required to go on to one of the universities of their choice. Many of this year’s Year 13 will continue with their musical studies at the country’s internationally famous Music Colleges, where a record number have won significant scholarships. More than one third of the candidates have specialised in music during their sixth form years and have had to successfully juggle academic work with intensive music programmes and long hours of practice. Of particular mention, with multiple scholarships, are Laura, Edgar, Adam, Osian, Phoebe, Ashby, Gwyneth, James from Somerton, Zoe from Wells and Poppy from Wellington. Wells’ results have been very good indeed across a wide variety of subjects this year, with exceptional results in English, the sciences, mathematics and history. 59 per cent of those taking chemistry achieved an A* or A grade; 64 per cent achieving the same grades in physics, and 67 per cent achieving an A* or A grade in Spanish. 58 per cent achieved the same level in English; 61 per cent in mathematics and 75 per cent in further mathematics. 64 per cent gained A* or A grades in religious studies; whilst 80 per cent achieved the same grades in Film Studies. One third of pupils gained the equivalent of the top A* grade in history, in this first cohort of students who sat the Cambridge Pre-U history syllabus. This exciting new course at Wells specialises in Medieval History, and makes the most of the beautiful medieval buildings and artefacts with which the school and the City is surrounded in Somerset. Students who took part in the Extended Project Qualification achieved strong results, with over a third gaining the top two grades for this rigorous assessment, where pupils have learnt the skills of research, analysis and presentation. Principal, Elizabeth Cairncross said “Many of our students have worked for and achieved top grades; others have worked hard and achieved results of which they and we are also very proud. Their families and our staff have all contributed unrelentingly and with great commitment; it was, however, the students who sat the exams and have provided themselves with a springboard to the next stage of their studies and their lives.’’