Downside School continues to reinvent itself at tremendous pace and, after an excellent report from the Independent Schools Inspectorate in January 2013 and the appointment of the first lay Head Master for April 2014, it has now further improved its A level results, rising from 33% A*/A in 2012 to 48% A*/A in 2013
22% of pupils gained straight A*/A grades with the strongest performance in the traditional subjects of English Literature, Mathematics and History. In English, for example, 40% of the pupils were awarded A*.
Downside School is one of England’s oldest and most distinguished Catholic schools and this reaffirms its place among the top flight of the country’s co-educational independent boarding schools. It is testament to the range of improvements in teaching and learning implemented by Daniel Gibbons, the Director of Studies, since he arrived in 2011.
Mr Gibbons said: “This is a massive improvement on last year that is due to the focus our teachers have placed on ensuring that each individual student fulfills their potential in every subject.”
Dom Leo Maidlow Davis, the outgoing Head Master, said: “I am delighted with these excellent results and heartily congratulate the pupils and my staff for all their hard work. When I arrived in 2003 72% of students achieved A-C grades and I am delighted that that figure has risen to 92% this year as I hand over to my successor, Dr James Whitehead, in April next year.”
Downside School is a co-educational Catholic independent school for children aged 11 to 18, located in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, near Shepton Mallet in Somerset. It is attached to Downside Abbey, a Benedictine monastery that dates back to 1606.