Highlight of the Week

Excellent A Level results for The Cathedral School

The Cathedral School is incredibly proud of the outstanding results achieved by this year’s A Level cohort in what has been the most difficult of years. Continuing its track record for excellence, the School’s Year 13 students have achieved 56% of all grades at A*-A and 80% at A*-B, securing places at the most competitive universities.

Once again, the most common grade was A, with 37% of students achieving three A grades or better; a fantastic achievement. The overall pass rate was 100%. A third of our cohort took the highly regarded Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), securing 94% A*/A grades.

James B, Alex R and Matthew P achieved the highest possible results, each scoring 4A* and have all secured Oxbridge places. James will read Medicine at Downing College, Cambridge and has also been awarded a choral scholarship. Alex will study Medicine at St Catherine’s College, Oxford and Matthew will study Natural Sciences at Clare College, Cambridge. Eden W will read Law at Oriel College, Oxford having achieved A*/A grades.

Joining James and Alex to read Medicine, scoring exclusively A*/A grades are Tanya E and Suhaib S at Cardiff, Ella J and Rupin H at Nottingham, Amber S at Imperial College and Head Girl, Maya R at Bristol.

On news of her results, Maya said: “This year has been such a rollercoaster and it’s been really hard for everyone. It has been so nice to be able to come into school today to see all of our friends. Our results have shown that working hard in Year 12 has paid off and we have been so lucky to have the support from all of our teachers. I feel completely overwhelmed, excited and glad that it has all worked out in the end.”

Other top performers also achieving exclusively A*/A grades include violinist, Bryn L and captain of the basketball team, Abdul A who will read Physics and Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial College respectively and 1^st XV rugby co captains, Sam T and Archie B who will both study Engineering Design at Bristol. Harpist Cesia R and football referee Harri L, who both joined the Cathedral School from Welsh medium schools will read French and Spanish at UCL and Economics at Bristol respectively.

Music scholar, Michaela J has secured a place to study music at The Royal Northern College of Music Conservatoire, a wonderful opportunity to progress her musical talent.

Mrs Clare Sherwood, Head of the Cathedral School said: “We are absolutely thrilled that our students have achieved such outstanding results which are amongst the best since our sixth form was established.

“The last six months have not been easy, but this year group have shown resilience and maturity since finding out that they would not be able to sit their examinations. As part of our remote learning programme and to help prepare them for the next stage of their education, these students relished our Step Up to University programme which was assessed externally by a university academic or a professional working in the student’s chosen field. The standard of the student projects was incredibly impressive as was the feedback we received from the assessors.

“I would also like to thank our incredibly hard working staff who, in addition to delivering a full suite of lessons remotely during the Summer Term, spent many hours aggregating our rigorous assessment data to enable the examination boards to award the A Level grades.

“Once again, our A Level results, which follow the English pathway, are very strong across a wide range of subjects, although like other schools, we do have some concerns regarding the examination board’s statistical modelling used to issue the grades this year and we are working with the relevant bodies.

“I am incredibly proud of all of our Year 13 students for the hard work and determination they have shown during their time at The Cathedral School. We wish them all the very best as they take the next step on their educational journey.”

The Cathedral School Sixth Form offers excellent facilities and teaching, combined with outstanding pastoral care and a breadth of co-curricular opportunities, especially in music, sport and the arts.

The School will host an Open Morning on Saturday 3^rd October for Nursery to Sixth Form, followed by a Sixth Form Options Evening on Thursday 8^th October 2020.