A-Levels: Exam success for Varndean College

The college said 19 A-Level subjects had a 100 per cent pass rate, with the visual arts courses, including art, graphic design, 3D design, textiles and photography all achieving ‘impressive’ results.

Principal Phil Harland said: “We are extremely proud of the excellent results achieved by our students, particularly in light of the recent changes to A-Levels which has made them even more challenging than before.

“Students and staff have worked extremely hard over the last two years and thoroughly deserve this success. Once again Varndean College looks set to have outstanding value added, as students have achieved higher grades than their GCSE results originally predicted.”

The college’s A-Level results follow its second best ever International Baccalaureate (IB) results back in July, when 42 IB Diploma students averaged 36.12 points, the equivalent to three A grades at A Level, with 11 students (26 per cent) gaining 40 points or above.

The college said 75 per cent of those applying to UCAS have acquired places at Russell Group universities, including two at Oxford and Cambridge and six studying medicine.

One student, Samuel Segal, gained the maximum score of 45 points, putting him in the top 0.5 per cent of students worldwide, and is now going on to study medicine at Sheffield University.

Portia Smith gained 43 points and will be studying medicine at Cambridge and Gemma Robson gained 41 points and will be studying history at Oxford.

IB co-ordinator Emily Board, said: “The International Baccalaureate is certainly a challenge but it produces confident and articulate young people who know a lot about the world around them and can really think for themselves. It’s been a great pleasure working with them all and we wish them all the success in their future careers. They are a real credit to the college.”

For more A-Level results in the area, visit our live blog.