​Delight and relief abound as Brentwood School A Level students receive results

After what has been an extraordinary final year of their schooling, Sixth Form students at Brentwood School received their A Level results today. 19 of the talented cohort got all A*s and A Grades, four are off to Oxford or Cambridge, and 59 students are going to their first choice university.

This year's A Level results were based on calculated grades that were produced through a combination of school judgements (the likely grades with which the students would have emerged had they taken the exams) and historical averages.

Among the individual successes are an ‘extremely happy and reassured’ Gabriel Gerlis, who with 3 A* grades in Economics, History and Psychology will be studying International Relations at King’s College London; Rania Milki, who will be heading off to Imperial College London to study Geophysics with her two A*s in Economics and Maths and two As in Physics and Further Maths, and Joel Runevic, who will be holding on to his A*s in Physics, Economics, Maths and Further Maths to apply for a scholarship at a top US University.

Joel didn’t waste his time during lockdown: “I was able to explore my passions as I had a lot of time. I was mainly working on ‘OnlyPhysics’, an international non-profit organisation that I set up with a few peers. During the summer, we’ve helped hundreds of students from all walks of life in ensuring that they are able to succeed in STEM-related subjects. It’s a really great way to use my free time to help others in fulfilling their potential.”

On how she felt not having to sit any exams, Rania said “I was quite disheartened when exams were cancelled as I would have liked the opportunity to prove my grades and feel as if I earned my results.”

Two students are heading to Cambridge University and three to Oxford, following a nervous few weeks. Catherine Prior, who also served as one of the Lord Lieutenant’s Cadets, received A*s in Biology, Chemistry and Maths and an A in Further Maths, (despite almost giving it up a year earlier!), and will be studying Natural Sciences at Newnham College, Cambridge; and Beth Whiskerd, whose proud father is Headmaster of the Preparatory School, received three A*s in German, Latin and Greek and will be studying Classics at Pembroke College, Cambridge.

Asked how she felt when she received her results, Catherine said “I was over the moon! It was so rewarding to know all my hard work over the last two years has been worth it - the main feeling was relief that now I can actually plan and get excited for university!”

Beth, who has spent lockdown earning some money for university as a key worker at WHSmith, paid tribute to her German and Classics teachers, “who have dedicated so much time and effort to helping me get these grades. They have really inspired me and my Classics teachers in particular have gone above and beyond with their support of my Cambridge application.”

Oxford-bound are James Willy, who, relieved at not having the stress of exams this summer, received A*s in Physics, Maths and Geography and an A for Further Maths, will be studying Engineering at Keble College, Oxford; and Rachael White, who is heading to Pembroke College, Oxford to study English Language and Literature with the A*AB she received for English Literature, History and Religious Studies.

Rachael, who apologised to her neighbours after the ‘crow of delight’ that she emitted on receiving her results, has set up a classical book club and paid tribute to her English teachers who made sure she made the best application possible.

Two other stalwarts of the School’s Music Department, Hannah Walker and Seb Bloom, will be studying at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music and Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance respectively. Hannah did an 18 hour walk during lockdown for the Brentwood Catholic Youth Service which raised an impressive £5000 overall. When asked how she felt about attending the institution, Hannah said “To be completely honest the prospect of being surrounded by students and teachers of such high calibre scares me a little but I will try my hardest to embrace it. I feel very honoured to have been accepted into the academy and look forward to spending my next four years of life in that incredible building."

Keen fashionista Annie Draper, who spent much of lockdown making old clothes into something new, is fulfilling her dream of studying Fashion at the world renowned Ravensbourne University London. Annie paid tribute to Miss Lerman, who is “always up for a dance in the Art Department if you’re feeling a bit down or have a portfolio crisis”. She also said: “Not having exams this year has been very odd as it is one of those things you secretly wish will happen as a student and it actually did this year. At first I thought it was great but in the past couple of days before results day it was very scary as the whole thing was very much out of my hands.”

Four students are going to study Medicine, traditionally one of the most difficult courses to get into. In addition to two IB students, Calista Odendaal and Ella Hawes, two A Level students Rishi Gadikoppula and Sharief Younis are realising their dreams at UCL and UEA respectively. On receiving his A* in Maths and As in Biology and Chemistry, Rishi said: “Waiting for the results was incredibly nerve-racking especially since we couldn’t sit any exams so I couldn’t tell how they went and didn’t know what to expect.”. Sharief was delighted to have received straight As in his subjects and paid tribute to all his teachers and the MDV team. He said that once he’d received his results, he “truly felt the anxiety that had weighed heavily on me these last few months melt away completely. I was mostly relieved but also ecstatic to realise that my ambitions were closer within my reach.”

Among the many diverse courses that students are going on to study, esports has proved a popular choice for two students. Arin Chandrruangphen and Nik Michel, who are both heavily involved in the sport already, will be continuing their passion at Staffordshire University. Arin commented: “Esports has always been a key part of my life, competing in an amateur way for 4 years, now I’ll go and study how to take it to the next level.”

Headmaster Michael Bond, who missed out on the opportunity to jump off the outdoor stage with students since results were shared electronically this year, commented: “I’m very proud of the resilience and resolve of our Sixth Form students. It’s been such a strange year and not how they expected to finish their time at Brentwood at all, but they’ve dealt with it admirably and have handled the last few months with maturity and positivity. I’m pleased to see so many gain their first choice university and wish them every success in the future. We are looking forward to a time - hopefully before too long - when we can celebrate with them in person. I’d also like to pay tribute to our wonderful staff who have contributed to such an impressive remote learning programme, which has provided continuity of education within and beyond the classroom for all our students, and - through our Beyond Brentwood programme - an opportunity for those in last year's Upper Sixth to explore university topics and enjoy other enrichment opportunities.”