Essex A-level results

The students at Colchester County High School for Girls gave retiring headteacher Elizabeth Ward a good send off with 100% pass rate at A* to E and 96.4% at A* to C.

Mrs Ward said: “As this is the final set of A-level results under my headship, I should like to take the opportunity to say how proud I am of these students and of all those who went before.”

At Colchester Royal Grammar School the overall pass rate was 100% with the A*to B grade percentage, excluding general studies, at 91%,

Top performer was Prem Jareonsettasin from Colchester who obtained 6 A* grades in biology, physics, chemistry, Latin, maths and general studies.

Headmaster Ken Jenkinson said: “The results look excellent and I am delighted for the students who have seen the reward of their hard work.

“They have been able, ambitious and determined and can embark on the next stage of their education with confidence.”

At New Hall School, Chelmsford, the largest ever A-level cohort is celebrating the school’s best ever A-level results with a third of students achieving three, four or five A*s or As.

Principal, Katherine Jeffrey, said: “We are proud of the students and delighted that so many academic records have been broken.

We had 82% of grades at A* to B which is up by 4% on last year’s results. New Hall’s record 54% at the top grades A*/A is now double the national average.

“We are also very pleased with 14% of results at the new A* grade after early indications that around 7.5% of results nationally were awarded A*. These exceptional results have brought much deserved university success.

Students at the Clacton Coastal Acadmey were celebrating after seeing a rise in one or more A*/A grades going up to 18% whlist 33% achievedg one or more A*/A or B grades.

Executive Principal, Stephen Chamberlain said, “We are delighted with the superb results achieved by so many of our students who have worked so hard to reach and exceed the targets set for them.

“They are a credit to their academy, their families and the Clacton community. They now have the opportunity to follow on into Higher Education and have demonstrated that they can compete at the very highest level in achieving top grades at Alevel.”

And staying in the town, youngsters at Clacton County High School are celebrating “outstanding” A-level results with a record 98% pass rate from the 130 students.

The school saw an increase in the proportion of higher grades with 26% of all grades awarded an A or the new A* grade and 71% at grade C or higher.

Principal, Jeff Brindle said, “The quality of this year’s results beat all expectations.

“It is great to see so many students achieving such outstanding grades. Our congratulations go out to all students, staff and parents on these results and I wish the students every success in the future.”

At King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford, 96.4% of all grades were at A* to C with the new A* results being hailed as a huge success with students achieving this top grade in 20% of all the exams.

Tom Sherrington, headteacher, said: “We are extremely proud of our students’ achievements which reflect their hard work and dedication two years and the outstanding expertise and support of their teachers.

“We encourage our students to undertake a highly demanding A level course with 4 A levels and General Studies as the standard curriculum in addition to a comprehensive programme of enrichment activities.”

Sue Cowans, headteacher at Philip Morant College, Colchester, said it had been “another good year” with the A* to C rate at 66% whilst the A* to E rate was 98%.

She said: “Staff and students are celebrating a very pleasing set of A-level results. The growing number of students in the college resulted in an increased number of entries with the majority of students reaching or exceeding their target grades.”

At Maldon’s Plume School students posted the best ever A-level result’s in the establisment’s history with 97% pass rate at grades A to E and 47% of entries resulted in A* to B grades.

David Stephenson, headteacher, said: “There is a huge amount for our students to celebrate.

“The results represent tremendous levels of achievement by the growing numbers of students that choose to continue their education at Plume School.

“Many of our students have achieved excellent results which can be attributed to their hard work over the duration of the courses.

“Credit must also go to their dedicated teachers and to students’ parents whose support is invaluable.”

At Colchester Sixth Form College more than 1200 upper sixth students took exams with the A*-E pass rate at 98.5% and A*-C pass rate at 74%.

Ian MacNaughton, Principal, said: “Students have achieved outstanding A and AS Level results in this summer’s examination series - the best overall A and AS Level results attained by students at the college to date.

“Indeed, this is the fifteenth consecutive year that the College results have improved.”

At The Harwich School more than 60% of teenagers were awarded A* to C passes and overall the A* to E pass was 95%.

Headteacher Nigel Mountford, said: ““I would like to place on record how proud I am of all of the students.

“They have worked hard over the two years and the vast majority of them are now progressing on to university.”

Hedingham School and Sixth Form posted a pass rate at 91% with 52% of those taking A-levels getting A* to C.

Andrew Harvison, headteacher, said: “All the students should be commended for their achievments and their teachers congratulated for the support they have provided to help the students to gain success in their future adult and working lives.”

Students at Braintree College have collected their A-level results for the last time.

The year group of 34 students achieved an overall pass rate of 97.4%, with 61.4% achieving grades A* to C.

Drew Keavey, director of information technology and operations (West) said: “We are delighted with the results for our A-levels and vocational qualifications this year and wish the students success in the future.”

Adults who studied for A-levels at the county council run Adult Community Learning Centres achived 53% pass at A* to C and and 83% A* to E.

Stephen Castle, cabinet member for education at Essex County Council said: “I would like to congratulate all of our students for their hard work. “There will be many students looking forward to continuing their education by beginning university or pursuing other qualifications.

“There will also be lots of people looking forward to entering the world of work. Whatever their plans, I want to wish them all the very best for the future.

“Essex County Council is dedicated to increasing educational achievement across the county, and ensuring that all children get the education they deserve. We are also committed to building the best education system so that every pupil can go on to fulfil their potential, be it academically or vocationally.

“We have some tremendous schools in Essex, and pupils, teachers and parents all play a big part in Essex’s educational successes. I would like to thank everyone for their hard work.”

Connexions, the information and support service for all 13 to 19 year-olds is offering additional support and advice to students who have just received their results.

For more information visit www.essexconnexions.co.uk or call Connexions Direct on 080 800 13 2 19.

And the East of England Skills and Competitiveness Partnership has also published a ‘What next?’ guide outlinign the different options 17 to 18- year-olds can take after finishing their courses.

It is being distributed by local authorities in schools, colleges and libraries across the East of England.

The guide is full of web links and information to inform the choices young people will need to make.

The guide can be visited online via the following link: www.uni-east.ac.uk/other-publications

At Essex University it has been a busy day dealing calls from potential students.

Deputy director for admissions Joanne Tallentire said: “We are in a much better position than previous years regarding recruitment.

“It is really good to see that several subjects are already closed to Home and EU students and others are very close to being full. This shows the strength of the courses on offer at the university.

“We are expecting to be very busy and due to the high volume of calls we are set to receive we will have to be selective on who we accept through clearing. We will also consider ‘adjustment applicants’ on an individual basis.

“Due to the pressure for places we would encourage students to contact us as soon as possible if they are thinking of applying for one of our courses.

“This year we are working under very tight limits due to the targets set by central government on how many UK and EU students we can accept. This mean we have to monitor and manage the situation very carefully.”

The university will continue to accept international non-EU applicants in most subjects as these are not subject to the same Government targets.

The university’s “clearing hotline” is 01206 873666 and there will also be a an open day on Monday allowing prospective students to visit before they decide whether to take a place they have been offered through clearingSee tomorrow’s paper for full coverage of the day’s events, results table and pictures.

See tomorrow’s paper for full coverage of the day’s events, results table and pictures.