“This year’s exams have seen even more changes and challenges for students including the return to pre-pandemic marking standards in England (in contrast to Northern Ireland and Wales) with many universities not adjusting their offers in line with this. Additionally, post-pandemic we have seen students requiring more support than previous years,” said Principal Tim Naylor. “This isn’t surprising with the disrupted path Year 11s and Year 13s have experienced over the last few years. Despite this, Bath Academy students have performed incredibly well, with eighty per cent gaining a place at their first-choice university. One A-Level student came all the way from Chester to study at Bath Academy to fulfil his dream of becoming a doctor. Having previously achieved A*A*A* in humanities subjects, he studied Chemistry, French, and Biology from scratch in one year, achieving A*A*A. He is now going St. George’s University Medical School in London.”
As every year at Bath Academy, One Year A-Level (Resit) students did extremely well, with an average grade improvement of two grades per subject. One student made a five-grade improvement across two A-Levels, achieving a place to study Physiotherapy, and another achieved a three-grade improvement to gain a place a Durham to study Accounting.
Despite a challenging few years of education, and with a cohort who never sat formal exams before, Bath Academy students have done extremely well this year in their A-Level exams, surpassing the national average by scoring 72% A* to B. This was almost a 30% increase from 2019, with 59% of subjects resulting in 100% A*-B grades. Furthermore, 92% of grades were A*- C grades. The college recorded a 100% pass rate in all subjects which included the demanding STEM subjects, resulting in all applicants with offers to Medicine or Dentistry getting places and 58% of students progressing to Russell Group or Times Top 20 universities.
“Re-sit students did exceptionally well with their value-added achievements, with two students improving six grades: one going on to read Mathematics at Durham University and the other to Kings College London to study Nutritional Sciences,” said Principal Tim Naylor. “These results are especially impressive given that Bath Academy is an academically non-selective school with students from all types of backgrounds, sometimes joining part way through the year or on short, intensive courses, others needing flexible schedules due to disruption in their education.”
The percentage of A*- B grades this summer was 82%, 12% higher than the national average
“We were thrilled to see all our A Level and GCSE students achieve the grades they so richly deserved this week, despite the adverse conditions imposed by the pandemic. It clearly shows that all young people, with differing strengths and weaknesses, are capable of achieving so much more with high levels of personal support from their teachers, the inner motivation that comes from having a clear goal, and the experience of being valued as individuals. We saw re-sit students make up to a 5 grade improvement on their previous grades, others achieving straight A* grades in four A Levels and almost everyone achieving more than they had believed possible. But grades are probably less important in the long run than the strengths of character that our students have developed in the face of a very challenging situation, rising from a felt minus to a felt plus. Surely the development of these deeply personal qualities is what truly effective education is all about.”
‘Thank you very much for all the knowledge you shared with us this year. I really appreciate what I have learned outside of the curriculum too.’ – Year 13 Biology student
The percentage of A*- B grades this summer was almost 79%, 23% higher than the national average.
Congratulations to our GCSE students, who achieved 71.4% of results at grades 9-4.