Students across Hammersmith & Fulham are celebrating after notching up an impressive set of A Level results.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council says the borough’s schools had a strong showing that saw 76% of pupils attaining A*-C grades.

H&F beat the national average for A*-A grades by 1%, with 27% of pupils earning these grades. And, the borough was in line with the national average for A*-B grades – at 52% - and A*-E grades – at 98%.

There were excellent individual stories from many of the borough’s schools and colleges, including Phoenix High School and Hammersmith Academy receiving only their second set of A Level results.

At Hammersmith Academy, there was an overall pass rate of 96%, with 66% achieving A*-C grades – up 1% on last year.

The academy's pupil Ali Omar, 18, is on his way towards becoming a successful doctor after securing a place to study medicine at Imperial. After months of hard work he scored straight A-grades in biology, chemistry and maths and is the first person in his family to go to university.

Head of Sixth Form, Rob McKerrell, says: " I am overjoyed by the fantastic results our students have yet again produced, with a number achieving the highest possible A* and distinction grades."

Burlington Danes Academy broke its own record by getting even better A Level results than last year with 85% of exams graded between A* and C. And 61% of pupils were given the top A*-B grades.

Remarkably, 100% of students applying have been accepted into university, and 30% of applications have been accepted by the top universities including: Cambridge, Manchester, Southampton and the London School of Economics. This is up 7% from last year.

Dame Sally Coates, principal at Burlington Danes Academy says: " Hard work has paid off for these students and many are going off to the country’s best universities."

In Hammersmith, William Morris Sixth Form achieved a 64 per cent A*-C pass rate – 4% higher than last year. Headteacher Kevin Gilmartin, says: " I’m so so proud. I was a bit worried because the national average has gone down – but we did even better than last year."

Phoenix High, in White City, saw 85% of pupils getting A*-E grades at A Level, while pupils attaining A*-E AS Levels leapt by 17% - from 53% last year to 70% in 2014.

Top grades in Fulham schools London Oratory School, in Seagrave Road, and Lady Margaret, in Parsons Green, both improved on last year. The percentage of students getting A*-A grades went up from 42% to 43% in London Oratory while 14 girls from Lady Margaret achieved A* or A grades in all of their subjects.

Cllr Sue Macmillan, H&F Cabinet Member for Children and Education, says: "These are fantastic results for many students across our borough's sixth forms. Congratulations to all our students, who have put in the hard work over the last two years and to teachers, school staff, parents and guardians who have supported them during that time.”

August 22, 2014