Last week, we warmly welcomed our Year 13 students and their families back to School to receive their A level results. These, were the first public examinations to take place since 2019, and the first ever for this cohort since the pandemic disrupted their GCSE examinations.

We are absolutely delighted with the outstanding results achieved by our hardworking students, which are testament to the resilience and determination they have shown over the last two extraordinary years. These qualities, together with their experience with digital learning and the social bonds which they have worked hard to maintain, are a huge asset for them now, as they step beyond School and into the world.

Clifton High students took on a range of subjects and excelled across the board, achieving the highest grades in an examination year at the School since the A level reform of 2015. 25% of our Year 13 students achieved at least 3 A grades at A level, 45.8% of all grades were awarded A*and A, and 77.5% of grades were A*-B. Impressively, 60% of subjects saw half of their A level students receive the top grades of A*-A.

For the number of Year 12 students who sat AS level public examinations this year and also collected results this morning, they received 100% A-C grades in all subjects. Whilst it is wonderful and right to celebrate the top grades, you will know that here at Clifton High we focus on the individual, and so, it is also important to acknowledge the outstanding progress students have made. We do this by measuring their ‘value-added’ data, obtained from comparing standardised testing of individuals with their final A level grades.

Early indications from our internal analysis show that, in this cohort, on average, each student added 0.63 of a grade to each of their subjects compared with their baseline data: an extraordinary achievement. For every A level subject, at least two-thirds of the year group met or exceeded their baseline predictions. In addition, 43% of students achieved an average value-added of at least a whole grade higher than their baseline predictions across all their subjects. If you would like to see the photographs taken on A and AS level Results Day at Clifton High, a selection can be viewed on our website with a wider selection soon to be available on the Friends of Clifton High website.

Our leavers will now go on to undertake a wide range of further studies, be this apprenticeships, further training, courses, or University. They chose their next steps carefully, with support and with maturity, and the paths they embark upon now are possible due to their hard work and dedication. We are so proud of each of them and wish them every success. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the families of our examination-takers. You have supported your children through some of their most important years of study at an exceptionally changeable time. Your dedication is very much reflected in the excellent results we have seen. On behalf of the whole School I would like to wish congratulations to all the students on these fantastic results and personal achievements.

We are very excited to see what further adventures lie ahead for the Class of 2022.