Northampton schools pleased with A-Level results after facing challenges throughout the Covid-19 pandemic

This morning (August 18), Chronicle & Echo visited schools across Northampton to find out how they fared in this year’s A-Levels - and the students and staff members were pleased with the outcomes.

The Duston School

After seeing an increase in the number of A* to B grades at The Duston School from the “superb” set of results in 2019, principal Sam Strickland said: “I am incredibly proud of the achievements of our Post 16 pupils.

“Their tenacity and resilience when faced with the challenges of the last few years has been humbling. We should remember that these pupils have never sat an external set of high stakes public examinations before.

*The overwhelming majority of our pupils are going onto university this autumn, with some set to read degrees at Oxford, in Medicine and at some of the most prestigious universities in the country. I wish them all the very best for their futures and am delighted they are equipped with a set of outcomes that will open up many doors.”

The schools vocational outcomes were also “extremely strong”, with the majority of pupils achieving a distinction or distinction*.

One of the school's highest achievers is Leon Cole, who received an A* in maths, A* in chemistry and A in physics. He will either be taking a gap year or going to Loughborough University to study chemical engineering if his physics grade remains at an A after a remark - as he was only one away from an A*.

Leon said: “I was happy with my results and worked very hard this year.”

However, it has not been an easy ride for him to achieve these grades. He bumped his year 12 predictions, which were Cs, to A*s in a year - as he could not apply to certain universities with the former predicted grades.

“I needed to provide my maths teacher with good enough evidence and prove that I was willing to work hard,” said Leon. “I had one final opportunity and proved myself.”

He admits studying during the pandemic was difficult, particularly the February 2021 lockdown when it was “impossible to keep your well-being going alongside studying”.

He was “shaking and nervous” as he entered his first ever exam of the summer, physics, but the hard work paid off.

Another of The Duston School’s success stories is Ksymena Oginska, who achieved a B in media, C in art and D in psychology, and will be going to Salford University to study film production.

After achieving “better results than she expected”, she is “so excited for university” and plans to “take every opportunity she is presented with”.

Admitting it was difficult to work hard while adapting to the circumstances of the pandemic, Ksymena said: “The hard work I put in paid off, despite the fact I found independent study at home a challenge.”

After receiving support from the school, who not only helped with her studies but have been there for her personally, she hopes to keep in touch and thanks The Duston School for their commitment to the student’s successes.

Weston Favell Academy

One of Weston Favell Academy’s highest achievers was “so happy” for himself and his friends who all landed places at their first choice universities.

Lewis Hirons, who opened his envelope this morning to see an A in Geography and 3 Bs in law, economics and EPQ, will be studying politics and economics at the University of Leeds.

He said: “I couldn’t be any happier and I couldn’t believe it when I saw my results

“Studying through the pandemic may have been a challenging and interesting experience, but we all made it out the other side.”

The academy’s principal, Todd Johnson, experienced his first A-Level results day at the school today after only working there for 14 months.

He says there has been a lot of comparison between the 2019 and 2022 results, and the latter were better despite the challenges faced - which included students testing positive on the morning of exams and having to find quick solutions.

The school received 12 A*s in academic subjects, which Mr Johnson said was a “bonus” to this year’s set of results - which included just short of 30 A*s and distinction*s in sport and vocational subjects.

“These results are just amazing and the students’ conduct throughout everything has been superb,” said the principal. “The grades they’ve got are absolutely deserving and they are heading where they want to go.”

The academy is also proud to be sending some students to start degree apprenticeships, which Mr Johnson says he would have loved the option to do when he was leaving school.

He said: “The traditional university life might not be there, but it is a true way of learning and I don’t think there is a better way than on-the-job.”

There are also some students heading to Russell Group universities, and others remaining in the county to start their new chapter at the University of Northampton.

One of the students fleeing the nest is Konrad Polacfiz, who achieved a distinction* in sport, A* in maths, A in further maths, and A in finance.

He will be moving to Loughborough University to study maths, financial management and accounting from September.

Konrad is happy with his grades and is making the most of the summer holidays to relax before making the move and beginning his further studies.

He thanks the school for the support they offered every time he needed it.

Northampton International Academy

This is only the second year that Northampton International Academy (NIA) has received A-Level and Level 3 BTEC results since its first ever sixth form intake in 2019.

This year’s results mean that 57 out of the 60-student NIA sixth form cohort have secured places on higher education courses, including medicine at Aston University, nursing at Keele University and biochemistry at the University of Hertfordshire.

The three who did not apply to university have secured spots on apprenticeships and of those going to university, five will be joining Russell Groups.

The school’s top individual performers include Glirstar John de Britto who achieved A*A*A, Ellie Griffiths who achieved A*AB, Daisy Clarke who achieved A*AC and Distinction, and Zaina Almoshmosh who achieved AABB.

Executive leader for the school Fuzel Choudhary said: “Today’s results are an excellent example of the hard work and dedication shown by students and staff.

“Well done to you all, and we send our students best wishes for whatever they go on to do as they move on to the next stage of their lives.”

Top performer Glirstar, who moved to Northampton just two years ago from India, not only had to adapt to this new lifestyle but to the Covid-19 pandemic too.

She looks forward to starting her new chapter at the University of Northampton to study biochemistry.

Daisy Clarke, who will be studying sociology at the University of Birmingham, and Lorien Compston, who will be studying creative writing and script writing at the University of Chichester, are both also looking forward to taking the next step - but will be sad to say goodbye to NIA.

Lorien admits she enjoyed the lockdowns during year 11, but found it hard to adapt to the pandemic in sixth form - describing some times as “horrific”.

However, she said being a student at a smaller school made things “more personal” and everyone pulled each other through the difficult times.

Maria Edwards, assistant headteacher and key stage five lead, said: “We are immensely proud. This cohort has had some of the worst years in education that any of us have known - which they have pushed through and got the results they needed.”

She added that as this year group has never done public exams before, there was a lot of uncertainty around grade boundaries and the school is pleased to have performed well.