Tupton Hall School achieves best A-level results in its history

Students chieved a 99 per cent pass rate, but this year saw a rise in the number of A*-C grades awarded – to an all-time high of 77 per cent.

Many of the talented teens are now heading to universities to study law, physics and accounting to medicinal chemistry and musical theatre and acting. Others are embarking on apprenticeships and placements in prestigious professions including RAF piloting and retail management.

Head of Tupton Hall Sixth Form, Charlotte Burton, said: “Behind our sixth form’s overall success and grades there are some amazing stories of students who have balanced their A Levels alongside long standing and significant health issues, students that have suffered loss, hardship and injury.

“Getting to know all of the students and seeing them through their educational journey and into success at university, on apprenticeships, into gap years and other employment and training opportunities is the greatest privilege.”

Mrs Burton said students had felt ‘immense pressure and anxiety’ because they were the first cohort to sit exams in reformed A-level qualifications, doing so without knowing their AS grade, without the opportunity to re-sit and with the entire final grade based on the exam at the end of Year 13.

She said: “The exams and the expectations on students grow more intense each year and the resilience, determination and support that they provide for one another is overwhelming.

“The ethos of Tupton Hall Sixth Form and the wonderful sense of community that our students create make this an exciting place to study. I think that is why our results continue to surpass all targets and make us a highly successful and popular post-16 option.”

Andrew Knowles, headteacher at the school, was also full of praise for the students.

He said: “Celebrations are duly deserved today as our students see the results of their hard work. We must also congratulate our highly skilled staff and supportive parents and families who have helped to secure these results for the school.”

Student Adam Inskip gained two A*s and two As in product design, maths, further maths and physics. In just a few days he will embark on the opportunity of a lifetime, jetting off to America to study mechanical engineering at the University of Rochester in New York State. The application and selection process has involved as much work as studying for a fifth A Level.

Adam said: “It’s been hard work but I’ve tried to be resilient and not let it get on top of me. My teachers have been amazing, as has my whole experience at Tupton Hall School – I don’t think I would have been able to get where I am today if I hadn’t come here. As for the future, I’m excited but also a little bit nervous.”

Eighteen-year-old twins Anna and Tom Stevenson are both embarking on careers in the Royal Air Force. Their applications to train as pilots and weapon system operators will see them complete a stringent selection process including aptitude and fitness tests.

Anna said: “We’ve been in the air cadets since we were 13, piloting is just something we’ve always wanted to do. We applied for university too, to keep our options open, but for us this is the right pathway.”

The countdown to A-level results day has been especially important for Hannah Kinsell who has battled a brain tumour alongside studying for her GCSEs.

Hannah achieved a stunning set of results – A in English literature, B in history and B in psychology. She is going to study anthropology and history at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Hannah said: “I’m just ecstatic to get my grades. It’s really exciting to know I’ve done so well considering what I’ve had to do to keep up throughout radiotherapy and two types of chemotherapy. It’s been very difficult and there have been a lot of tears but the sixth form staff and my Heads of Year have been brilliant, understanding my treatment and what I’ve gone through.”

Other outstanding individual achievements and their destinations:

Eve Macmaster (A* A* A) Art foundation at Chesterfield College

Adam Slater (A* A A) Sport and exercise science at Loughborough University

Alysia Bradley (A* A A) Law at the University of Sheffield

Matthew Hadfield (A A A) (B – AS Level) Accounting and economics at Sheffield Hallam

Aakash Pattar (A* A B) Chemistry at the University of Manchester

Alex Edson (A* A B) Physics at the University of Nottingham

Ted Baker (A* A B) Maths at the University of Bath