A Level students praised for "resilience" on results day

Tuesday 10 August 2021

Jersey's schools have praised their A Level students for the resilience and “true grit” showed in their final year of school, as they received their results today.

For the second year in the row, A Levels results were based on teacher assessments due to the pandemic.

As many schools reported, this didn’t stop local students from performing well, with Victoria College even recording its best result to date.

Overall, Jersey’s A-Level students once again outperformed students in England, achieving higher success rates at both the highest grades (A*-A) and of good passes (A*-C).

498 Jersey pupils were entered for 1361 A-Level examinations, 45.3% of which were at A* and A, against 44.3% in England. For A*-C passes, Jersey achieved 89.1% compared to 88.2%.

Pupils who took the International Baccalaureate (IB) achieved a 100% pass rate with an average point score of 35.17, above the worldwide pass rate of 88.96%  and average point score of 33.02.

Highlands 6^th form students also attained excellent results with more than 90% achieving their advanced level vocational/technical qualification; the vast majority with high grades.

93.3% of Year 12 and 13 students at Victoria College received grades between A* – C – allowing them to move onto university, higher education or straight into a career of their choice. Nearly 60% of all grades were awarded at the highest level of A* or A and over 90% at grades A* - C.

Headmaster Alun Watkins, who will soon be retiring, congratulated the students on a “truly exceptional” set of A Level grades, “the best in the School's long and illustrious history."

“These are fully deserved and testify to the hard work of our students who have shown great resilience and mental fortitude coping with the challenges that has been thrown at them due to the covid pandemic,” he added.

“They have been an extraordinary year group who have given so much to our school and the Island community; I wish them all success for the future and once again applaud them for such a wonderful set of A level grades."

Pictured: Hautlieu students achieved record breaking grades.

Hautlieu School also recorded record-breaking grades, with over 86% of students performing at A* to C at A-Level, and an average IB Diploma score of over 35 points.

Headteacher Nick Falle said that while the school is "always proud" of its students, this year had been "exceptional" in demonstrating what they can achieve.

"Despite being faced with lockdowns, home learning, isolation requirements and uncertainty about how the UK Government would award qualifications, our wonderful students have bounced back again and again, going on to achieve record breaking A-Level and IB grades," he said. 

"These best-ever grades are a testament to hard work and ambition and I want the world to know that the students absolutely deserve their success and are a credit to our island.

"We place particular emphasis in examining the value added performance of our students, measuring the progress they have made from their GCSE starting points, with Hautlieu’s 3 year trend showing a value added score that places Hautlieu in the top 10% of UK Schools.

"We are also very conscious that our dedicated parents and teachers have faced adversity but as always, have gone out of their way to support our young people in achieving their dreams."

Beaulieu Convent School celebrated what they described as another “strong set of A Level and Level 3 results”, with 51% of qualifications taken by its Year 13 cohort achieving A* or A.  

The majority of students gained a place at their first-choice university, the school said, with a number heading to Russell Group Universities to begin studies in their chosen field.

“I am delighted that our students' efforts, past performance and their hard work have been recognised and rewarded,” Andrea Firby, Head of School, said. “The majority of our students have been able to access their university options for next academic year. This is a huge achievement during a challenging year.”

Mrs Firby praised the students for the “resilience, determination, good humour and grace” they showed during the pandemic.

“I believe that, having dealt admirably with the uncertainty of exam process changes, lockdown, isolation, and mask wearing, our students are now more than ready to face, head on, any challenges that might arise as they make plans for the next stage of their lives,” she added. “I am thrilled that they have achieved such positive results under difficult circumstances.”

JCG’s Principal, Carl Howarth said he had been “inspired” by the students and their “incredible success”.

“As with all aspects of life over the past 18 months, our students and staff have had to respond to an evolving assessment framework,” he said. “I am inspired by the resilience, courage and determination of our students. The close partnership with their teachers has enabled them to thrive in the toughest of circumstances.

“I am equally indebted to our staff who displayed such great care and immense professionalism in working with a new system and using their good judgement to provide an accurate - and the fairest - assessment of each student’s performance.”

Mr Howarth said the students had shown “true grit” in overcoming obstacles and congratulated them on being “remarkable people”.

“While their final year has been strange, I have no doubt that their experience will propel them onto the world’s stage with the confidence and the skills to navigate uncertainty in whatever guise and use their gifts to improve the lives of others,” he added.

Pictured: 37% of all grades at De La Salle were in the A* (Distinction*) and A (Distinction) category.

At De La Salle College, students exceeded all “key benchmarks” with 37% of all grades in the A* (Distinction*) and A (Distinction) range and 82% in the A* (distinction*) to C (Merit) range.

Head Teacher Jason Turner said he was delighted with the boys’ performance and proud of them for “rising so admirably to the challenges faced."

“The response to the covid pandemic has presented both students and staff with an incredibly challenging year,” he said.

“At De La Salle we take boys of all abilities and our students take both A levels and BTEC qualifications. I would like to congratulate all the boys who achieved their personal best and many of whom exceeded them. Every student who did his best in the trying conditions created by covid should be celebrating today.”