Pupils at St Swithun’s, Winchester have achieved record breaking A level results this year with over 80% of exam entries graded A* or A (compared to a national average of 26%) and 32% of entries awarded an A* grade (against a national average of 7.4%). In contrast to lower results across the UK, these figures represent a 5% increase of A* and A grades at St Swithun’s.
On an individual basis, 7 girls were awarded three A*s or better and over two thirds of the upper sixth (68%) were awarded three A grades or better.
History, politics and religious studies all had an impressive 100% of candidates achieving all A* and A grades while over 90% of entries in geography were graded A* or A and over 80% of entries in economics, English literature and maths received these top grades. Even more remarkably, in biology and English, over 55% of girls achieved an A*. In addition, all girls who took the demanding Extended Project Qualification, which is highly regarded by universities, achieved an A* grade.
The girls are now looking forward to university where courses such as medicine, veterinary medicine, law, languages, history, engineering, physics, geography, classics, politics and philosophy will be followed at a range of different institutions such as Oxford, Cambridge Exeter, Bristol, UCL, Edinburgh, Durham, St Andrews, and LSE.
Jane Gandee, headmistress of St Swithun's, said “We have been delighted this year to see how all of the girls have sought to take responsibility for their learning and have focused on achieving their own personal bests regardless of the progress of others. This is not to say that they do not care about their peers – on the contrary, kindness and compassion are at the heart of St Swithun’s – but simply that they understand that education is a personal journey. We are all proud to see the girls’ A level success as they now set out to make an impact beyond the school gates.”