Derbyshire Dales students look to the future on day of A-Levels success

The graduating year 13 cohort are those whose GCSE year was upended by the pandemic and while exam season proved much more straightforward this summer, the journey to get there were rarely what students might have expected.

Andrew Marsh, headteacher at Highfields School, said, “Back in 2020, we had very high hopes for these students when they were studying for their GCSEs. They were a very conscientious group, and then abruptly at the age of 16, they had the rug pulled out from under them in the first lockdown.

“Many then felt they would have to wait a long time for the chance to really prove themselves. In the intervening two years they were in and out of lockdowns, studying in their bedrooms and having to cope with isolation, online learning and long-lasting uncertainty.”

In that context, staff say it was all the more inspiring to see friends supporting each other, students bouncing back from repeated setbacks and staff and students finding ways to overcome Covid challenges together.

The result of all of that dedication and resolve is that nearly 70 per cent of Highfields Students achieved A* to B grades at A-level which, in light of the past three years, far exceeded the expectations of senior leaders.

Such achievements were especially notable given concerted efforts by the exam regulator Ofqual to rein in the proportion of students awarded the very highest grades, after numbers had risen with the alternative assessment methods used during the pandemic.

Altogether, 84 per cent at Highfields achieved A* to C, and vocational subjects performed just as strongly as academic ones.

Maths, traditionally the school’s most in demand A-level course, saw nearly 50 per cent of students achieve an A*.

Rebecca Brown, who leads the maths department, is particularly proud of the tenacity of students who had regularly taught each other at lunchtimes, and stayed after school for extra sessions.

There were also excellent results in modern languages, including two students now headed off to pursue language degrees at the University of Cambridge.

Many others have equally exciting university futures to plan for, while others have proved themselves in competitive recruitment schemes to land places on degree apprenticeships with Derbyshire Constabulary, Fujitsu Computing and Tata Steel in Sheffield.

Liz Cruise, assistant head of Sixth Form at Highfields, said, “This year group have had a fantastic approach to life in Sixth Form. Their determination and creativity went well beyond studying. In the challenging circumstances, they may have been forgiven for concentrating on themselves.

“But in fact they have set up new competitions for younger year groups, used music and performing arts not just in the school musical but also in social events and Ukraine fundraising, and they found ways to link up with residential homes and primary schools during lockdown. This flexibility and proactivity will set them up so well for the future. We are very proud of them.”

There were just as many happy faces and hugs over at Anthony Gell School in Wirksworth, where staff were on hand to congratulate the students, assist, advise and share in the celebrations.

The year group’s overall results were described by headteacher Malcolm Kelly as “outstanding” and closely matching, and in many cases bettering, those achieved by their predecessors at the school in recent years.

He said: “These results are a very good indication of the achievements of this group of students and accurately reflect many of their strengths. These results are on a par with the best ever achieved by students at AGS.

“This is all the more impressive when we take into account the additional complications this group of students have had to deal with during their time in school. I am pleased that the turbulence caused by the pandemic has not had a detrimental impact on the results and qualifications achieved.”

He added: “Our students have shown how resilient they are and have adapted wonderfully well to all that has been asked of them. Staff, students and families have worked in close partnership throughout their time at AGS and never more so than during the last two and half years.

“I am delighted that our students have once again been successful in securing places on a wide range of courses and future pathways. We wish them well and thank them for all they have done whilst at AGS. They have gained a lot but also contributed a great deal during their time with us.”

Ofqual has urged people not to compare this summer’s results with those of 2020 or 2021 due to the exceptional circumstances, but schools will no doubt now be crunching the data to assess their performance against pre-pandemic levels. By some national measures, results overall were higher than in 2019.

For today though, Gary Peat, headteacher at Lady Manners School in Bakewell, focused his thoughts on young people who had triumphed in adversity.

He said: “Congratulations to all our students who have achieved excellent results. They have worked extremely hard and should be proud of their outstanding achievements.

“Our students have endured a challenging few years and this makes their results even more special and memorable. We wish them all well as they progress to the next stage of their education, and we look forward to hearing about their future successes.”

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