​A level Results - Churcher's College 2020

Simon Williams, Headmaster of Churcher's College, shares his delight in another year of successful A Level results, but also his feelings of anguish and injustice over the impact of COVID-19.

The overall stats table below suggests it is a very positive year indeed for Churcher’s College, silver medal territory, with five of the Upper Sixth enjoying a clean sweep of four A* grades, another five with clean sweeps of three A* grades, and another ten with A* grades except one A grade; that is twenty with quite exceptional results. It is difficult to be anything but delighted…… but the overall results disguise what appears to be a fair amount of injustice where students have really not got their just desserts.

A Level	Total A level Exams	Provisional Cumulative Percentage
		A*	A*-A	A-B	A-C	A-D	A-E
2014	313	10.7	46.6	76.2	92.8	98.7	99.7
2015	293	14.2	52.9	80.4	93.5	97.3	99.3
2016	350	20.7	58.1	83.3	96.4	98.1	99.7
2017	345	18.3	45.4	77.1	92.2	98.3	100.0
2018	307	21.5	54.8	87.4	97.7	100.0	100.0
2019	348	25.8	61.4	85.2	96.3	98.6	100.0
2020	412	24.6	55.8	83.5	96.6	99.0	100.0

Despite the goodish news I am still left feeling very much like the Headteacher quoted in a recent post from the Association of College and School Leaders: I don’t think I have ever felt as powerless, angered, saddened and frustrated for a group of students in my entire career. We are staggered by how much our students have been downgraded. We are failing to understand the methodology. We feel responsible for our students but powerless to do anything for them.

It does feel the individual has been disregarded in an effort to make the overall stats work. The Exam Boards have largely disregarded all calculating of grades based upon all the empirical data we have on individual students and the professional opinion of teachers. They have been as bold as to indicate as such, and have chosen to almost purely use statistics; historic school grade profiles and a further adjustment to bring the national numbers into line. When no regard is taken of the individual it does create confusing anomalies and some students have dropped more than one grade from the centre assessment grade through no fault of their own, just because someone might have got a lower grade three years ago.

As two of this year’s cohort commented, it is very much lucky dip this year which is a terrible way to conclude seven hugely impressive and enjoyable years of secondary education at Churcher’s. For some it is rightly, but inevitably muted celebration, but for others COVID has added another thorn in the side. I don’t want to underplay the success of the majority here, and of the school as a whole; we really should celebrate this and the huge majority who are going off to their first choice universities all around the country, but there is a regret that every child doesn’t seem to count on this occasion.

I have no doubt there will be many public debates and probably a few political broadsides over the coming weeks. The results at Churcher’s are, once again, exceptionally strong but it should have been a real sunshine day after the gloomy clouds of COVID. Instead, there are bemused students, parents and teachers today.