A-Levels: Record-breaking results for BHASVIC

Brighton, Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College (BHASVIC) recorded an overall pass rate of 99.4 per cent (up 0.9 per cent on the previous year).

Of the 3,374 A levels sat, 15.6 per cent of grades were A* – way above the national average which was 8.3 per cent last year.

A* to A grades accounted for 40.7 per cent of outcomes with an incredible 70 per cent of grades at A* to B (up more than six per cent on last year).

Vocational results were also very strong with 442 BTEC entries recording a 99.1 per cent pass rate of which 79.4 per cent achieved Distinction.

In total, 57 students received an offer to study at Oxford or Cambridge University.

Jenni Roberts, 18, said: “I had no idea what I was going to get. I was so stressed I even had to get my friend to open for me. They eventually opened it and I got three A*s, which is more than I ever expected.”

Lottie Buttle, 18, said: “I’ve been finding the thought of university quite stressful recently and this just added to it even more.

“I received two A*s and one A so I was really happy. I think everyone thought they had done a lot worse than they actually had done, and I haven’t really seen anyone upset with their results, which is really good.”

Tom Woodward, 18, said: “I got one A and two Bs so yeah I’m really happy with that. I’ll be taking a year out next and then going to university after that.”

Principal William Baldwin said: “Exam results this year are astonishing at BHASVIC, we are absolutely over the moon with them. All in all, it’s a bumper crop this year and I am pinching myself.

“They’re the highest results we have ever recorded, and when given the backdrop of linearity and changes to specifications, it’s incredible.”

This comes after substantial changes to the A-Level exam system. From 2017, students have been made to sit all their A-Level exams at the end of two years of study, instead of taking modular exams throughout the course.

The change was brought in by the Government with the intention of making exams harder for students to prepare them for higher education.

Mr Baldwin also said: “This is what makes this all the more remarkable really, linearity means students take all their exams at the end of two years with less coursework components, and our results have gone up, our pass rates have gone up, our high grades have gone up.

“We’ve worked incredibly hard to make sure we have got the delivery of those courses right.

“We’re also really lucky in the sense that our students have brought with them a learning culture where they’re ready to learn and succeed; we’ve got a recipe here now where it’s a virtuous cycle of students coming, knowing that if they work hard they will get good results.

“We have to remember that for some students just turning up for college is an achievement against a backdrop of mental health issues, dysfunctional homes and so on. So, let’s not lose sight of that within the educational sphere, exam results definitely don’t capture everything.”

For more A-Level results in the area, visit our live blog.