Derby High School Celebrates Best Ever A Level Results
Today is a very special day at Derby High as we celebrate our best ever A Level results.
80% of all grades have been awarded at A*–B, with an outstanding 27% at A*. Six students achieved straight A* grades and a further seven achieved all A* and A grades, meaning that more than 30% of the cohort achieved all A* and A grades.
Our students now move on to an exciting range of destinations, including Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick, Nottingham, Bath and King’s College London, as well as highly competitive degree apprenticeships. They will study subjects as diverse as Medicine, Dentistry, Engineering, Business Management, Law, French and German, Physiotherapy, and Art and Design.
These achievements are all the more special because this year group represents an important milestone for Derby High. They are our first fully co-educational cohort to have completed their journey through the Senior School, including the first boys who joined us in Year 7. It is wonderful to think how far they have travelled since then.
Of course, their story cannot be captured by A Level grades and university destinations alone.
Amongst this cohort are young people who have completed Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards; achieved advanced qualifications in music, drama and public speaking; performed in plays, concerts and productions; and represented Derby High in an extraordinary range of sports, with some progressing to club, county and national level. They have taken on leadership roles, supported younger pupils, raised money for charity, volunteered, travelled, debated, created, performed, competed and challenged themselves in ways that no examination certificate could ever record.
And that, for me, is what brings everything together.
We want our young people to leave Derby High with excellent academic outcomes because those results open doors. But we also want them to have the confidence to walk through those doors; the curiosity to explore what lies beyond them; the courage to take opportunities when they arise; and the kindness and character to make a positive contribution wherever life takes them.
That journey does not begin in the Sixth Form, or even when A Level courses begin. It is built year by year, through lessons and friendships, performances and fixtures, trips and expeditions, successes and setbacks, and through the relationships young people develop with the adults who teach, challenge, encourage and care for them.
That is why today is a celebration for our whole community. I am enormously grateful to our staff for the part they have played in the lives of these young people and to their families for the trust and partnership they have shown us over many years.
Most of all, congratulations to our students. Today is their achievement, and they should be immensely proud of it.
Best wishes,
Amy Chapman
Head
