It was a poignant A-Level results day in Croydon Old Town, where the last cadre of pupils in Old Palace School’s 136-year history received the news that could shape their adult lives.
Poignant moment: Old Palace Sixth Former Skye is off to study human, social and political science at Cambridge, as one of the last girls from her school to complete their A-levels
Old Palace of John Whitgift formally closed its school gates for the final time last month, the £20,000 per year girls’ independent school having been closed by its owners the Whitgift Foundation, officially due to falling rolls, but widely thought to be the victim of the land-owning charity’s sticky finances after more than a decade waiting for Westfield to redevelop its town centre properties and shopping centre.
Despite all the travails of working through the covid lockdown and the unsettling experience of spending their Sixth Form at a school being wound-down towards closure, girls at Old Palace increased the number of A*-C grades this year, with 83% accepted for their first-choice university courses.
“Congratulations to all our wonderful A-level students,” said Andrew Christie, brought in as a caretaker headmaster for Old Palace’s final year. “They have worked hard and should be very proud of their results.”
Record results: Trinity School Sixth Formers had much to celebrate with their results today
At Whitgift, the £24,462 (plus VAT) boys’ private school in South Croydon, also run by the Whitgift Foundation, 25 boys gained three or more A* grades, and 69 gained three or more grades at A* or A, as close to 60% of all grades were at A*/A.
Of those pupils taking the International Baccalaureate, 93% achieved their first or second university choice. “Once the IB results and A-Level results are combined to reflect… the whole cohort of 186 boys, this year’s Upper Sixth Form achieved 28% of all grades at A* or its IB Higher Level equivalent, 62% at A*/A, and 90% of all grades at A*-B or IB equivalent,” the school said on its website.
“I am more proud of you than I can say,” said Andrew Halls, who has been interim head at Whitgift for the past year.
At Trinity, the Foundation’s third independent school, which has a co-ed Sixth Form, from 160 pupils, 37% of the grades awarded were A*, with 74% A*– A and 95% A*– B, the strongest results the school has ever produced outside covid years, with 91 pupils achieving straight A grades or better, and 95% heading to their first or second choice of course.
“We are delighted for our students and their families – these results give them access to a tremendous range of opportunities and institutions, and reflect their dedication, curiosity, and the determination to follow their individual paths,” said Alasdair Kennedy, Trinity’s headmaster.
Results day: it can be a day of mixed emotions for Sixth Formers, as these boys at Riddlesdown defy the hackneyed results day glee
The general picture nationally is one of a slight increase in grades over last year.
Exam results spiked in 2020 and 2021 when exams were cancelled due to covid and grades were based on teachers’ assessments.
Most pupils getting results today were in Year 8 at that time. By the time they were in Year 11, a phased effort to bring grades back down had reached its final stage in England.
As a consequence, this year’s Year 13s had a tougher time getting required GCSE grades, making the cohort “smaller” but “stronger”, according to Ofqual.
But with universities across the country concerned about their finances and falling numbers of applications from overseas students, they have been keen to enrol undergraduates from Britain this year because they offered “stability” for “financial planning”, according to UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.
Top A-level results have risen again – with 28.3% of all grades across England, Wales and Northern Ireland marked at A* or A. This is the second year that grading has returned to pre-pandemic standards, with London and the south-east delivering many of the best results.
A record number, 226,580 nationally, secured a place at their first choice of university, up from 216,750 last year.
UCAS says acceptances were up at all types of university, but the steepest growth was in acceptances to what it calls “higher tariff” universities – the most selective institutions, like those in the Russell Group – which includes Oxford and Cambridge, as well as the likes of Durham, Edinburgh, Imperial College London and Southampton.
Read more: It’s a red-letter day for our ‘covid generation’ of school pupils
Read more: Whitgift Foundation decides to close Old Palace School in 2025
Read more: Old Palace closure brought on by shaky Foundation finances
A D V E R T I S E M E N T
PAID ADS: To advertise your services or products to our 10,000 weekday visitors to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
