Record breaking A Level results at Glyn School

Staff and pupils at Glyn are celebrating their best ever A and AS Level results.

The overall pass rate for Year 13 students was 99.7 per cent, with 82 per cent of grades at A* to C and 53 per cent at A* to B.

Year 12 students secured the best AS results ever with 65 per cent of grades at A to C, and 44 per cent at A to B.

Jon Chaloner, executive headteacher, said: “The governors and staff at Glyn are delighted with the achievements of our students in both A and AS levels. It has been a very positive atmosphere at Glyn this morning.

“Four students have secured places at either Oxford or Cambridge. Sean Kealy and Alex Holt will be studying at Oxford from September and Connall Garrod and Jack Neill will be going to Cambridge.

“The proportion of A* and A grades at A-Level has risen to 23 per cent which is the school’s highest performance on this measure since 2012.

“Putting it into context with today’s ‘rigour’ compared to previous years I would suggest that the 23 per cent probably would surpass the 26 per cent from 2012. The A* to B figure has equalled our best ever from 2012 whilst the focus upon the C/D grade borderline has resulted in an increase in the proportion of A*to C grades setting a new record of 82 per cent.”

“As I step down as the Head after nine years before moving into my new role as CEO of GLF Schools, of which Glyn is a part, I am delighted that the school has achieved such an impressive set of results for our students.

“I am sure that the next Year 13 cohort will rise to the challenge for 2016 as they move into our purpose-built £3.6m new building alongside the new Year 12 students.

“I would like to pay tribute to my colleagues for their commitment to all Glyn students resulting in such success. We are grateful to our parents for the support they have given to their daughters and sons over the years which has been significant.”

Joe Gale, head of sixth form, added: “Special congratulations go to Luca Michael for his A*, A* and A* in economics, mathematics and psychology.

“Luca achieved five As and five Bs for his GCSEs two years ago and his performance shows that no student’s potential should ever be capped.

“It was with great pride that we shared our students’ success today; the culmination of one or two years of hard work and dedication. We wish each of our 202 students the very best as they move onto the next phase of their lives, whether it is in higher education or employment.”

Weightlifter Luca, 18, is hoping his results are the start of an exciting week as he gears up to compete in the 62kg category at the British Championships at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Saturday (August 15). His results secured him a place at University College London to study psychology.

“I was very nervous today, which was  strange because I wasn’t nervous about the exams at all but I guess since my last exam I may have been overthinking things," said the weightlifter who represents Sutton and Epsom Weightlifting.

"But I’m so happy with my results. This is a big week for me as I’ve also got the British Championships on Saturday. It’s been a great week so far with my results but hopefully it will end well.

“My preparations have gone well and I’m going in with the second highest total. Right now, I’d settle for any medal at the weekend.”

Head girl Olivia O’Brien, 18, is looking forward to studying politics and international relations at Bath University after getting an A* in politics, A in English and B in French.

“I’m really happy with my results,” she said. “I just wanted to get into university so I checked the website this morning to see what university I had got into because I would’ve been too nervous to come in not knowing if I had got enough to get into university.

“I’ve set my sights on getting into university for the past two years and worked so hard towards this goal, so it was a bit overwhelming when I saw on my computer screen that I had got in.

“All my friends have done really well and all the hard work we’ve put in over the last two years has paid off. Everyone at Glyn should be proud of themselves.”

As for her choice of university subject, she explained: “Politics is something that I’m really interested in. It’s a subject that is always changing and is always in the media because it’s something people are interested in. I think it’s going to be a really interesting subject to study at university.”

She added: “I’ve really enjoyed being Head Girl and it’s been an amazing two years at Glyn. I’m really going to miss Glyn.”

Gymnast Jack now has his sights set on securing a place on the Ireland gymnastics team at the 2016 Olympics after securing a place at Cambridge.

The 18-year-old secured a place to study engineering after getting an A* in maths, A* in further maths and an A in physics but has decided to defer a year in a bid to compete in Rio next summer.

Jack, the current British U18 pommel horse champion, a title previously won by Olympic silver medallist Louis Smith, said: "My results were absolutely amazing. I was very nervous leading up to today, as I'm sure most of my friends were, so it was good to finally be able to collect my results.

"The wait I had for a confirmation of my place didn't help but we got there in the end and I'm really looking forward to studying at Christ College because it is the best place to study engineering and this is the field I'd love to work in."

Jack, who began training at Tolworth Gymnastics Club at the age of five and has already competed at the 2012 European Championships and 2013 European Youth Olympics, is now turning his attentions to the World Championships in Glasgow later this year.

"With the Olympics taking place next summer, I decided I would defer going to Cambridge until 2016 so I can spend a whole year doing gymnastics and hopefully get some work experience," he continued. "There are lots of competitions between now and the Olympics and all my focus is now on making sure I make the Ireland team.

"The next year is going to be huge for me - especially at the end of year with the World Championships and the trials to get into the Ireland team sometime in the New Year. I certainly won't be spending the next year relaxing!"

As for his chosen subject, he added: "I'm very passionate about maths and physics so engineering seemed to be the perfect fit."

Sean Kealy, 18, will be studying chemistry at Oxford after securing two A* in chemistry and biology and an A in maths.

“I got up early this morning to check to see if I had got in. I wasn’t sure how I felt but then I saw I had got into Oxford and I was just delighted," he said. “Knowing I had got what I needed to get in, I wasn’t so nervous about coming in but it was great all the same to come in and collect my results to see how I did, and my friends too.”

In terms of attainment, Glyn’s top performers were:
Luca Michael (3 A* grades)
Jack Neill (3 A* grades and 1 A grade)
Ashiq Abdul Khader (3 A* grades and 1 A grade)
Alexander Holt (3 A* grades and 1 A grade)
Matthew Hay (3 A* grades and 1 B grade)
Samuel Jackson (2 A* grades and 2 A grades)
Fahim Ahmed (2 A* grades,1 A grade and 1 B grade)
Lydia Hallam (2 A* grades and 1 A grade)
Sean Kealy (2 A* grades and 1 A grade)
Matthew Harvey-Wright (2 A* grades and 2 D grades)
Elizabeth Atherton (1 A* grade and 3 A grades)
Joseph Allison (1 A* grade and 3 A grades)
Hansel Rodrigues (1 A* grade and 3 A grades)
Francesca Smith (1 A* grade and 2 A grades)