A-Level results 2020: Akeley Wood School in Buckingham

Some students attended Akeley Wood School this morning to collect their results

Akeley Wood students were celebrating their A-Level results today with 58% of grades at A*/B.

The school's Value Added Score also increased for the third year in a row

58% of students achievied Grade B and above and 83% achieved Grade C and above.

A spokesperson for the school said: "Although our Year 13 students, like thousands others across the world, were unable to take A-levels this year, they did not sit on their laurels! We created a personal development programme for them which ensured that they used this period of time constructively. We believe that the lockdown period enabled our students to develop lifelong skills which will enable them to stand out from the crowd when applying for coveted university places and future employment.

"The programme, called Inspiring Futures ran throughout the summer term and engaged leaders in industry from organisations called InnerDrive, Lead Curriculum and DebateMate to deliver skills based training focussing on non-academic character developments such as leadership, communication, teamwork, creativity and emotional intelligence. The programme proved so successful that it will now form part of the Sixth Form curriculum moving forward.

Mr Antwis, principal of the school, said: “Despite the challenging times of lockdown, our pupils have shown incredible resilience and adaptability. We are so proud of how hard they worked for their A levels over the five terms they were in school, and these incredible results are a testimony to the commitment of pupils and teachers to maintain high standards of education.

"Our small class sizes enable teachers to understand their students as individuals and provide bespoke support to ensure every child progresses. As well as the inspiring futures programme, teachers regularly checked in with students to see how they were doing from a wellbeing perspective.”

Students received a calculated grade. For each student, the school provided a 'centre assessment grade' for each subject – the grade they would be most likely to have achieved had exams gone ahead – taking into account a range of evidence including, for example, non-exam assessment and mock results.

To make sure that grades are fair between schools and colleges, exam boards are putting all centre assessment grades through a process of standardisation using a model developed with Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator. They have also agreed to use a student’s mock grade instead of centre assessment grade.