Hammersmith and Fulham students are celebrating receiving best-ever A Level exam results this year.
Hammersmith's William Morris Sixth Form and Fulham's Lady Margaret and London Oratory Schools all achieved an unprecedented 100 percent pass rate, while the national pass rate stood at 97.5 percent.
At William Morris, new principal Kevin Gilmartin said he was thrilled with the sixth form’s results. “We are absolutely delighted,” he said. “Our pass rate greatly exceeds the national rate and is a testament to all the hard work of our students and the dedication and expertise of our staff.”
At Lady Margaret School in Parsons Green the percentage of passes at grades A and B was 85.5 per cent, compared to 82.7 per cent last year.
Head teacher, Sally Whyte, said: “We’re delighted with this year's results which are the best ever at Lady Margaret. All the students did incredibly well and everybody is happy with the places that they’ve got.”
At the London Oratory School, also in Fulham, the percentage of passes at grade A to C was 86 per cent, compared to 86.6 per cent last year.
On this year's A-level results, the Department for Children, Schools and Families says the national picture shows that overall pass rates at both A-level and AS-level have remained broadly steady, with 97.5 per cent obtaining grades A-E at A-level this year (97.2 per cent in 2008) and 88.1 per cent obtaining grades A-E at AS-level (88.2 per cent in 2008).
What is significant is that there has been a 12.2 percent increase in the numbers taking mathematics A-levels – up to 72,475 from 64,593 last year, the Department says.
Commenting on the results, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Europe's largest teaching union said: "These are wonderful results and a testament to the commitment of young people and the skills of teachers.
" For all those critics who can't bear the idea that the improvement in A-Level results is attributable to the hard work of young people and their teachers, they should have a look at the trend in improvement in the so called 'hard' subjects of Mathematics and Science. It is quite clear that irrespective of the subject, there is no difference in the quality of the examinations and there can be no question mark about the effort put in by young people."
20 August 2009
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