Brentwood School's GCSE results ‘culmination of hard work in spite of adversity’

Students at Brentwood School arrived to open their GCSE results this morning after an extraordinary couple of years, and the culmination of years of hard work has turned into delight and relief for many students. Despite the challenges they’ve had to overcome, the vast majority of students have achieved outstanding outcomes, showing that whatever their passion, they can live it out at Brentwood

Following an excellent set of results at A Level and BTEC earlier in the week, and International Baccalaureate last month, which saw over 85% of students get their first choice destination, GCSE students continued the trend of individual success and becoming ‘the best version of themselves’. The three pathways offered in the Sixth Form ensure that students can be placed on the courses to which they are best suited and that will give them the opportunity to flourish at Brentwood and beyond.

Among the individual successes, 24 exceptional students received 72 points or more (equivalent to eight ‘9’ Grades).

Abigail Rice received a clean sweep of twelve 9s and an A* in her HPQ, With a huge smile on her face, Abigail said: “It’s what I was hoping for so I am very happy. I am doing the International Baccalaureate so Maths, Economics, Latin, English, Chemistry and German aiming for Economics at Cambridge and then a job somewhere in Finance. Fingers crossed so far it’s going well. I was really nervous but it all worked out ok. It’s been a weird year. It was stressful because everything was so different. Remote learning was good. The school did a really good job, I took all of my lessons and I don’t feel like I struggled with that at all. Everything was normal just at home, not at school.” Abigail was going off to celebrate with her friends.

Will Sedgley also received over 72 points and was particularly surprised with 9s in English and Chemistry. He wanted to thank Madame Roast and Mr Clark in particular for their help and support. Will will be studying French, History and Drama at A Level. He hopes to study History at university but is keeping his options open. He’s planning to go to a well known Portuguese chicken restaurant tonight to celebrate!

Erin Shore was holding back the tears as she received her results; eight 9s, two 8s and an A* in her HPQ. She was particularly shocked to receive a 9 in Biology, which she will go on to study at A Level in the Sixth Form along with Psychology and Maths. She is planning for a career in paediatric nursing. Her Mum, also clearly emotional, was “Very proud.”

Top musician Sammy Li, who had been doing some online international piano competitions during the summer, gained twelve 9s and an A* in her HPQ, and was looking forward to starting Sixth Form and her A Levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry. She will continue to play piano and violin in the School’s orchestras. “Remote learning was alright. I was quick to adapt because I like doing all the technology stuff, so it was nice in that regard, but not seeing my friends was a little bit hard.” Sammy did not feel like she missed out on lessons as the school ‘covered it well’.

Top rugby player James Jupp received five 9s, two 8s, two 7s and an A* in his HPQ. As Headmaster Michael Bond congratulated him he was reminded of a recent food and nutrition competition when he sampled James’ reconstructed ‘Tunnock’s Tea Cake’. James is clearly talented in many areas! He will be studying Economics, History and Geography in the Sixth Form.

Dan Peters’ results were better than he was expecting, Eight 9s, Two 8s, one 7 and an A* in HPQ, and will be taking A Levels in Maths, Further Maths, Economics and Geography with a view to go into investment banking or something along those lines.

Sienna Singh, who received ten 9s, one 8 and an A* in the HPQ, had a sleepless night, hoping for these results. She was “Very happy, very nervous.” She will be studying A Levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Economics with a view to continuing Economics at University and also has eyes on a Finance future. Sienna appreciated being able to continue with a full timetable and normal school routine during lockdown. “It was OK but I found it quite hard to stay concentrating but Brentwood handled it probably better than most other schools. I know a lot of my friends elsewhere struggled a lot more.”

Mr Bond adds “It’s been a very challenging couple of years for our students and I’m delighted that this year’s GCSE cohort have received the results they deserve. It’s lovely to see the emotion and relief in their faces this morning and they should celebrate their success despite what they’ve had to contend with. Our aim is to provide a range of pathways that will provide our students with the best possible chance of success during their Sixth Form years and the chance to secure their preferred next steps when they leave us. Next year’s Sixth Form will be a very exciting place with a talented and ambitious cohort of students across such a wide range of activities from academic and sport to music and cookery! I’d also like to thank our fantastic teachers who have guided them through this period admirably, and all the staff at Brentwood who consistently put everything into making our students the best versions of themselves.”