Against a national backdrop of anxiety over tougher exams, the mixed-ability day and boarding school, which was graded as Excellent in every area by inspectors in 2015, saw every one of its Year 11 pupils gain at least 5 9-4 (A*-C) grades or equivalent, with over 92% of subjects taken achieving the A*-C (9-4) benchmark, and its haul of the top grades A & A* more than double the national average with a record number of A* grades.
Among many personal triumphs, Tom Lewis, from Albury, celebrated an outstanding 9 A*s (or Level 9s) and two As in the exams. Tom will study A-levels at King Edward’s in the Sixth Form. Conor Rajan, from Woking, gained 9 A*s and two As, or equivalent, and Gulfy Bekbolatova scored an A* in every exam she took after only a year on King Edward’s unique pre-Sixth programme, and will study the IB Diploma at the school from September.
Also celebrating with 7 A*s and 5 As was another local student, Ben Dowson from Grayshott, while Godalming’s Alice Crisell gained 5 A*s, 1 A and 2 Bs. Both will continue their studies at King Edward’s outstanding Sixth Form following either the International Baccalaureate Diploma or A-levels. Megan Knight, from Petersfield, has a tally of 7 A*s and 2 As to celebrate despite only returning to the UK last September.
In common with many independent schools, King Edward’s students study a mixture of GCSE and IGCSE programmes to ensure pupils can be given the best, most interesting and most rigorous possible preparation for their Sixth Form courses.
Commenting on the results, the Headmaster, John Attwater, said: “I am so delighted that our GCSE results are continuing to reflect the hard work of our pupils and their teachers. In particular, this year’s cohort deserve every success: as a group they worked and played hard and got a good balance between all-round learning and preparing for the exams. They can be very proud and I look forward to welcoming them back into the Sixth Form in a couple of weeks”