Highams Park Sixth Form Celebrates Positive Results

Highams Park School is incredibly proud of the outstanding progress and achievements of our Year 13 students in their A level and BTEC results. We are very proud that our A level qualifications produced outstanding outcomes, with 51% of our grades being at A*-B, meaning over half of our cohort achieving very strong outcomes. This is only the second time that the Sixth Form has had over half of our grades being awarded above a B grade. This is alongside phenomenal BTEC outcomes, with 69% of our grades being awarded at least a Distinction grade and 97% being awarded at least a Merit.  These percentages showcase the marvellous results that our students have obtained this year. Alongside attainment data, the overall data for Highams Park Sixth Form shows that students yet again made above expected progress across the board in their Level 3 qualifications. These outcomes showcase the consistency of excellent results achieved by students at Highams Park School, with half the cohort making better progress than expected based on their GCSE outcomes. 

These outstanding outcomes have enabled a vast majority of students to obtain a place at their first-choice universities. This includes currently at present 26% of places being at Russell Group universities, with students obtaining places at prestigious institutions such as UCL, Durham and Kings College London. We are particularly proud of Oscar who has secured a place at Cambridge University to read Geography. This is a wonderful achievement and highlights the magnificent success of Highams Park Sixth Form in supporting students to achieve places at the world’s top institutions. This is alongside an increasing number of students securing places on leading apprenticeship pathways with both national and international firms, such as EY.  

The A level results highlighted a variety of pleasing outcomes for Highams Park students. Overall, the school achieved 226 grades awarded between A-B, which is in line with our outcomes from last year.  Some highlights include Joshua, who with 2 As in Biology and Maths and an A in Chemistry will go onto read Medicine at Queen Mary University, Jasmin who with As in Biology, Chemistry and Maths will be studying Pharmacology at City St Georges , and Olivia who obtained 2A*s in Psychology and History, an A in Biology to gain a place at Biological Sciences at the University of Exeter.  

As ever, it is not just with respect to A level grades and university entry that Highams Park students have achieved great success.  Our BTEC results continued to be outstanding, with 64 of the 95 grades awarded achieving at least a Distinction. Some particular highlights include Isabelle, who with D* D* in Health and Social Care and A in Psychology will be moving onto Nursing at the University of Leeds and Taner, who with Distinctions across BTEC Business and IT will be studying University of Sheffield, Financial Mathematics. These outcomes highlight the broad and balanced curriculum on offer at our Sixth Form, something that we take great pride in as a truly comprehensive school that seeks to cater for the entirety of our local community.  

We were very pleased to welcome Sir Iain Duncan Smith, our local MP into school to celebrate the results with our students. He was very pleased to hear the outstanding outcomes and destinations that our students were moving onto, and our students were very pleased to discuss their strong results with him.  

Nigel Armsby, Principal of Highams Park School, is extremely pleased with the results achieved by Year 13 students and said “As a school we are absolutely delighted and incredibly proud of our Year 13 students. They were a fantastic cohort, who thoroughly deserved all that they have achieved in their A level and Level 3 BTEC qualifications. The vast majority of students have got into their first-choice university, setting them up for the next stage of their life which I wish them all the best with. The outcomes back up the Outstanding judgement that the Sixth Form received from OFSTED , which speaks about the outstanding progress that students make as part of their studies in the Sixth Form ”.  

Liam McDonnell, Deputy Principal, added “Our Year 13 students have shown continued dedication and drive to succeed in their studies. This has been rewarded with outstanding results, which continue to be above the national average for progress. The students should be commended for the resilience and positive attitude with which they undertook their examinations. We are also very pleased that a large number of students are also moving onto high quality apprenticeships. Our students have been a credit to the Sixth Form and the school, and go into the world equipped with outstanding skills and attributes to make a positive impact for the future. The results truly reflect the Sixth Form as a key strength of the school, with students benefiting from high quality teaching and learning alongside extensive wider opportunities, as highlighted in our Outstanding OFSTED judgement”.