Relief and happiness as Brentwood School students pick up A Level Results

Sixth Form students at Brentwood School are celebrating another strong set of A Level results. 25 of the talented cohort got all A*s and A Grades, six are off to Cambridge University, and over 100 students are going to their first choice university.

The average UCAS tariff score of a student leaving our Sixth Form is 156. This is remarkably strong and reflects the more demanding courses we are offering in both the IB Diploma and our A Level, including the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) pathway. This means that the average student leaving our Sixth Form has qualifications equivalent, or better, than AAA at A Level.

Among the individual successes are an overjoyed Faye Barnard, who got A*AA, was looking forward to celebrating with friends in Chelmsford in the evening. She mentioned the invaluable help that Mrs Morris, Head of Psychology, had given her to get the coveted A* Grade. She’s off to the University of Exeter to study Business.

Shwetha Sivaraman will be heading to University College London to study Law after securing A*A*AA, and then the world is her oyster. “Law is a good way to go for now,” she explained. Shwetha also thanked Spanish Teacher Miss Campbell for all the extra help and support she had given her.

Robert Pardington was ‘absolutely flabbergasted’ with his results (A*AAB) which were ‘so much better’ than he had expected. “The exams were challenging and I did not think I had done that well. The School has helped me an insane amount. All the teachers and students are happy to help. It’s been amazing and I wouldn’t change the School for the world.” He will be studying Mathematics and then plans to see where life takes him.

An impressive six students are heading to Cambridge University. Robert’s revision buddy Chani Merrell, one of the School’s most recognisable Performing Arts students, had more than opening night nerves. “I was the most nervous I have ever been in my life,” she said. Her two A*s and one A see her off to St John’s, Cambridge, to read Education with English and Drama but she takes with her so many memories of “performing, Public Speaking, Dance, Model United Nations, good friends and so much more.”

All the hard work paid off for a very focused Lucy Patchett who was celebrating the three A*s which will pave the way for her to study Classics at Queen’s, Cambridge. In fact, Lucy did so much revision to achieve her three straight A*s she had no idea what to do with herself when the time came to stop cramming. As for her immediate future, Lucy said: “I am going out with family and friends and then I am going to sleep and sleep and sleep as I haven’t properly slept for a very long time.”

It was also a sleepless night for nervous Alex Rowley, who was waiting on a place at Pembroke College to read Natural Sciences, but had nothing to worry about, as he aced his grades with A*s in Chemistry and Mathematics and As in Biology and Further Mathematics. He paid tribute to Mathematics Teacher Mr Ewin and Head of Chemistry Mr Endlar. Tallulah Allen received A*s in English, French and Spanish and will study Medieval Modern Languages at Jesus College.

National Public Speaking champion Alice Grundy need not have been ‘so scared’ to come into School for her results which proved to be a resounding reflection of all her hard work – A*A*A enough to see her off to read History at Homerton, Cambridge.

“It is the hardest I have ever worked for anything in my life,” she said. “I hope to become a History professor or an Academic. I am good at School so I think I might continue it on a permanent basis,” she joked. Once Alice and her family had finished mopping up tears of joy, she was off out to celebrate with friends.

Abi Chapman (A*AA) is also Cambridge-bound, excited to study Geography at Fitzwilliam. She thanked Mrs Carter, Head of Geography, for her support and for having so much faith in her.

Four of the six students off to Cambridge pictured above

The School is a national test centre for SAT American Admissions Tests, and each year, several students in the cohort head stateside and to international universities. This year is no exception and among them are Ashley Chalmers, who is heading to High Point University in North Carolina on a Scholarship, Simon Botbol, heading to Liberal Arts-focused Brandeis University in Massachusetts. Christian Lear to Munster in Germany and Guillaume Goodey who begins his studies at Kings College London and will spend a year abroad at the prestigious SciencesPo in Paris.

Five students are off to study Medicine or Dentistry courses, traditionally the most difficult courses to get into, and the School’s MDV department is rightly proud of the hard work they put in. Abbie Greenhill, who studied the International Baccalaureate, is off to Bristol to study Medicine, James Morbin is heading to Keele University to study Medicine, Kimberley Punwani will be studying Medicine at Leeds, James Rowell will also be studying Medicine, and Shalini Sahni will be studying Dentistry at Plymouth.

Director of Sixth Form Rob Higgins, who politely declined to jump off the outdoor stage with students, was delighted to see so many happy and relieved faces. He congratulated them, and said: “This is the culmination of years of hard work from both students and staff and I’m delighted to see that so many students got in to their first choice university again. Particularly pleasing to see are those students who did better than expected, which demonstrates not only their dedication but also the proven added value of our growth mindset mentality.”