Earlscliffe Head teacher Joss Williams was ‘delighted’ with the grades students at the sixth-form college received this year on their A-level and University Foundation Year courses.
‘This cohort has done remarkably well, despite the awful last few years they have had,’ he said. ‘We are all very proud of their stories and personal journeys.’
The last public exams these students could have taken – GCSEs two years ago – were cancelled and Centre-Assessed Grades (TAGS) were awarded instead. Niall Johnson, Deputy Head Teacher said: ‘This means that this was the first time these students had ever taken a public exam. While we did everything we could to mitigate the anxiety, it was clearly a struggle.’ Students at Earlscliffe take part in weekly testing called TRaC™, which stands for Test, Rank and Coach, and this ensures that our students gain a huge amount of experience in exam conditions, so that they are as prepared as possible for the actual exam.
‘They have had a very disrupted few years,’ said Mr Williams. ‘Our students have had to cope with online learning, disruption and uncertainty throughout the last vital years of their high school education. Their wonderful grades are such a credit to their hard work’
Mr Williams has listed some of the superb achievements of individual students below:
Cindy from China will be joining University of Edinburgh where she will study Architecture, having impressed equally well in arts and sciences – a challenging combination which is required to cope with the two keys aspects of architecture – the scientific and the creative. Cindy was another student who has benefited from the small class sizes, intensive teaching and family environment leading her to reach one of the very best universities in the world for Architecture.
Fabian from Germany will be studying business at the prestigious Regents University in London. ‘Fabian truly found his feet academically at Earlscliffe and his grades have steadily increased and improved from quite modest foundations to impressive heights,’ said Mr Williams. ‘After joining us with weak English, and having struggled with his grades, he has risen both academically and pastorally. Fabian was nominated by his fellow students to become Head Boy last year, and his grades have surpassed even his own expectations.’
Nigerian student Eniola will be studying Biomedical Sciences before moving onto medical studies as she hopes to become a doctor. Eniola is a very gifted young student and has taken her A-levels a year early, still managing to excel by achieving 4 A’s at A-level.
Daniel from Spain initially joined Earlscliffe in 2020, but his time with us was cut short due to issues around Covid. He returned in September 2022 to join our one year University Foundation programme. Daniel performed so well that he has been offered a place at the University of Leeds to study Aerospace Engineering. ‘We are incredibly pleased with Daniel’s progress. After severe disruption to his education due to COVID, Daniel pulled it all together this year, gained top marks and secured a place on a challenging course at a very strong university.’
French student Bonnie has made the Art Department her home, securing impressive grades in Art, Photography and History of Art and will be going onto study Fashion at industry focused London University – Ravensbourne. Bonnie benefited greatly from the hands-on support that she received at Earlscliffe and is another student who has hugely improved during her time with us managing to achieve such fantastic grades.
‘These stories – and I could tell you many more – make us all so very proud of the way our students, from all over the world, and with a wide variety of backgrounds and educational foundations, have made the best of their time at Earlscliffe and will go on to great things. We are so excited to hear how they do, said Mr Williams.