Sixth form students at King's Ely have achieved places at their first-choice universities having gained a 'stellar' set of A-Level grades today (August 17)

The sixth form's teachers and staff are especially proud of the 94 students' results and achievements, since Covid measures during their GCSE year meant that it was their first time sitting public examinations.

This year, a fifth of A-Level results achieved at King’s are the top A* grade, almost half are A*-A, and three-quarters are grades A*-B.

The overall pass rate is 99 per cent and almost all candidates aiming for university this year gained places at their first-choice universities.

Pupils will be going on to study subjects as diverse as mathematics and film to ecology and creative writing at universities not just in the UK, but across the globe.

'We are extremely proud'

Head of King’s Ely Senior, Jonathan Shaw, said: “We are extremely proud of our Year 13s, who have achieved some excellent A-Level grades.

"Results day is always approached with a little trepidation, but for this year’s cohort there was the additional pressure of sitting public exams for the first time, due to the cancellation of their GCSE exams in 2021.

"We are therefore particularly delighted with today’s results."

All three King’s students holding Oxbridge offers achieved the top grades to take up their places this year – Alice Wallace at St Hilda’s, Oxford to study classical archaeology and ancient history, Ben Collier at Peterhouse, Cambridge to study medicine, and PiaoPiao Li to study philosophy at Magdalene, Cambridge.

Students who achieved all A*-A grades this year were Thomas Bateman, William Biggs, Thomas Coates, Ben Collier, Joseph Coppin, Elliot Dickson, Georgia Gordon, Finlay Griffiths, Freddie Hills, Jonathan Iles, Fidel Lau, PiaoPiao Li, Alexandra Marshall, Connor Marshall, Daniel Millard, Emily Morris, Lauren Peck, Sophia Peters, James Schoenberg, Kathryn Snell, Eloise Suiter, Alice Wallace, and Haoxuan Xu.

This year, 11 students completed the two-year Level 3 Diploma in business studies, achieving five Distinction* and six Distinction grades.

Two Year 12 pupils also completed the one-year course and achieved Distinctions.

Approximately a quarter of this year’s Year 13 cohort also completed Extended Project Qualifications (EPQs) in addition to their A-Level subjects, which are equivalent to 50 per cent of an A-Level.

Almost a half of grades achieved were A* and around three-quarters of grades were A*-A.

King’s Ely’s English Literature, French, German, photography, religious studies, and textiles departments all achieved 100 per cent A*-B grades this year.

Principal of King’s Ely, John Attwater, said: “This is a challenging year for students with much more competition for university places and less latitude in A-level grades than we have seen since 2019.

"In this national context, it is great to see such all-round success, both among the academic high-fliers and also the exciting options achieved by those who were most disrupted or affected by COVID lockdowns during their GCSE years.”