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16
REVIEWS OF THE YEAR
Academic Report
Matthew Albrighton, Deputy Head Academic
Our 2015 leavers maintained our excellent
record of sending pupils to the very best
universities in the UK and overseas. Around
90% of those who applied through UCAS
were successful, most of them (88%) taking
up places at a university of their choice (either
their firm or insurance option). Of those who
accepted places, the vast majority (around
80%) are studying at Russell Group or
equally prestigious universities. Six pupils
won places to Oxford or Cambridge. At
Oxford, Tacita McCoy-Parkhill is
studying PPE at Oriel; Lynn Temp, Law
with German at Jesus; and Camila
Whittaker, PPE at Regent’s Park. At
Cambridge, Octavia Akoulitchev is
studying English at Sidney Sussex, Lucy
Azzi, Law at Pembroke and Harry Sellen,
Modern and Medieval Languages at Corpus
Christi. Three pupils secured places to study
Medicine: Saur Hajiev at Imperial, Beth
Reed at Southampton and Oli Cobbold at
Manchester. The top five universities are all
Russell Group: London (see page 18 for
details), Edinburgh, Bristol, Newcastle and
Exeter. Many pupils look beyond the Russell
Group for specialised courses – this year,
three pupils are studying rural and business
management at the Royal Agricultural
and Harper Adams Universities, and one
is studying Early Years Development at
Norland College. Three pupils are
studying in the US: one at Dartmouth
College, an Ivy League university, one at the
University of Chicago and one at Columbia
University in New York.
Pupils were delighted to have achieved
the results they required to secure these
impressive university places. A number of
pupils achieved outstanding results. At A
Level, Harry Sellen achieved A* A* A* A*
and A* in the EPQ; and James Avery A*
A* A* and A* in the EPQ. In the IB, Lynn
Temp, achieved full marks – the
maximum point score of 45. Only around
100 candidates in the world secure this
result each year. Camila Whittaker and
Octavia Akoulitchev also excelled by
achieving 44. More than a third of all IB
candidates achieved 40 points or more
and 62% of Higher Level grades were 6/7.
Of all grades achieved by our 2015 leavers
– combining A Level and IB – 46% were
at the highest levels: A*/A at A Level or
Levels 7/6 in the IB; three quarters
achieved good grades: A*- B at A Level or
Levels 5 – 7 in the IB. At A level, 41% of
grades were at A*/A and 68% were A*- B.
In the Extended Project Qualification,
now taken by most A Level candidates,
45% of grades were at A*/A.
Particularly impressive in their GCSE
exams were Lucy Cobbold, Eva
Cottingham-Mayall, Immy Higgins and
Joe Zietman who all achieved 11 A*. Ten
candidates achieved 10 or more A* and 10
candidates achieved the top grade in
Additional Mathematics (A). Overall,
66% of GCSE grades were at A*/A and
89% were at A*-B.
For full lists of all results, see pages
112-115.