Curious, creative and confident students celebrate A Level results

The St Mary’s School, Cambridge community celebrates today as another cohort of confident young people received the A Level results required to propel them into a range of academic, creative and philanthropic pursuits. With 77% of students securing their first-choice university place, they are set to read History at the University of Cambridge and Chemical Engineering at University College London, Biological Science at Imperial College London and Politics at the University of Edinburgh, Architecture at the University of Bath, Pharmacy at King’s College London, and Geography at St Andrew’s University, to name a few.

With the uncertainty generated by the introduction of new assessment arrangements for half of the A Level subjects offered, 45% of students’ results were awarded at A*-A grade and 72% at A*-B grade, with an impressive 25% of students achieving all A*/A grades in their A Levels.

Boarder Yinuo M. was one of the school’s top performing students, achieving three A* grades – in History, Economics and Mathematics – to take up her place to read History at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Yinuo enjoys travelling and loves to combine her passion for history with her adventures abroad, and so she celebrated her exceptional results in Japan, saying: “I was worried my English wouldn’t be good enough to read History at university but thanks to the English as an Additional Language department at school I am no longer worried about my English! All the teachers are fantastic, supporting us with whatever pathway we want to pursue.”

Yinuo is in good company in achieving the top grades: in the humanities, 100% of students taking History and 89% of those taking Geography achieved an A*-B grade, and all students taking Economics achieved an A*-B grade. The English Language department boasted excellent results too with all students awarded an A*/A grade.

Another of the school’s top performers was day student Honora D., who has attended the school since Reception and today was delighted to receive her results: three A* grades, in Mathematics, Chemistry and Physics. Honora will take up her place to read Chemical Engineering at University College London, and said: “There are so many courses to choose from but I think through engineering you can really make a difference – sorting out problems, or going into a business and advising them on how to improve energy efficiency, for example. My ultimate dream is to work at NASA – although not necessarily as an astronaut! I want to continue to be able to do what I’m good at and what I enjoy – as I have done here at school.

“The school has been hugely supportive of me in pursuing my interest in STEM and in my decision to apply to read Chemical Engineering – but then the teachers also spur us on in all of our ambitions and extra-curricular pursuits too. I’ve been just as encouraged in my musical commitments and to join the school’s rowing team during Sixth Form. What I love about this school is that the only pressure you feel under is to be yourself, and to try your hardest, to see how far you can go.”

The results show that the school equally encourages and inspires its students in pursuing and excelling in all subjects. In STEM subjects, students performed equally impressively: 100% of students achieved an A*-B grade in Further Mathematics and Computer Science, and 83% of students achieved an A*-B grade in Chemistry.

Morgaine O’C, the school’s 2016/2017 Music Captain, celebrated her results today: A*, A and A, in French, Music and Spanish respectively. Morgaine has an exciting gap year lined up before she goes to university to read Music in September 2018: she will take Music lessons in Florence and Milan and take her Grade 8 examinations in both singing and violin; she has also been offered a place to study opera technique and repertoire at the Academia Europea di Firenze in Florence, and plans to spend time volunteering with refugees in Calabria too. Morgaine said: “One of my favourite memories from my time at school combined music with languages and travel – on the choir tour to Lake Garda. The combination of languages and music works really well – for instance, my familiarity with languages has helped me when I sing in different languages for music examinations.”

French was the school’s top performing subject with 100% awarded at A* grade. The students’ results across creative subjects have also impressed, with all students taking Music achieving an A*-B grade and all students taking Photography achieving an A*-A grade.

Charlotte Avery, Headmistress of St Mary’s School, Cambridge said: “Congratulations to every one of our Upper Sixth students on achieving such fantastic results which will enable them to continue to pursue such a breadth of ambitious pursuits as they leave our Sixth Form and enter the world of Higher Education, of work, of apprenticeships, of travel and personal development. The girls have worked incredibly hard over the past two years, as have their teachers and parents in their support of the girls, and have today seen their hard work pay off.

“At St Mary’s School, Cambridge we emphasise each young person’s uniqueness, and place substantial value on instilling in the girls a curious, creative and confident spirit that will, alongside their academic accomplishments and the skills they have gained, motivate and equip them for life beyond school – to create and pursue their own path to fulfilment.”