Last week our A-Level pupils celebrated not only achieving the second highest A* - B grades awarded this century, with only 2009 being better (excluding Covid-19 adjusted grades), but also the highest percentage of A* - C grades ever awarded, including the years when grades were adjusted due to Covid-19.

“Our pupils rightly deserve to be incredibly proud of their achievements, these are an impressive set of results” said David Wickes, the Head. “This year group has contributed massively to the school community, on the stage, sports field, in the classroom, as leaders and as mentors to our younger pupils. To have seen them flourish as young men and women over the last two years, then achieve these results, is testament to their academic strength and their commitment to making the most of the opportunities they have had available at PGS.”

The achievement was across a breadth of subjects, with strong performances in STEM subjects, alongside creative subjects, the humanities, languages and particularly in English where almost a quarter of the grades were A* which, given the national trend in this subject and the large number of pupils who took English, is remarkable.

Within the STEM subjects, three quarters of all grades awarded in Mathematics and Further Mathematics were A* - A and this was complemented by our Chemists achieving over 91% A* - B. If all science subjects were combined then over 87% of grades were A* - B. There were also notable results within the Arts - every pupil who took Art, Craft & Design received an A* - B grade, over 87% of the grades awarded in Music were A* - B and, even more impressively, every Drama student received either an A* or an A.

In humanities subjects, 92% of the grades awarded in Geography were an A* - B, as were 93% of Politics grades. Nearly 88% of the grades in French and 90% in Spanish were also A* - B.

“It’s been a long one at PGS,” said Evie, who was at PGS for 16 years and gained three A grades. “I wouldn’t have achieved this without the support of the teachers here, and particularly Mr Wickes who helped me not only on the sports field but also supported me academically with any questions I had.” Evie will now be going on to read Law at Cardiff.

Bhushan joined PGS at two-years-old and will be attending Warwick University in September to study Computer Science. Collecting his results with his family he said: “I am happy all the work has paid off and am excited for a new challenge.”

“Our aim, through excellent teaching, co-curricular opportunities and enriching academic experiences is to develop curious, compassionate, forward-thinking young people and to encourage them to discover their own passions,” continued Mr Wickes. “The achievement across such a wide range of subjects at A Level shows our success in helping our pupils onto a path that will form their future.”