Pictured above: Amelie, Daisy and Izzy celebrate their results
Sixth Form students and staff at St Joseph’s College are celebrating strong A Level results this morning, with a third of exam grades being awarded at either A* or A. St Joseph’s College accepts students across a broad academic spectrum and there have been some wonderful individual successes of students achieving grades much higher than they anticipated.
Students have secured places on competitive courses at some of the country’s leading universities including Cambridge, UCL, Birmingham, Warwick, York, Bath, Southampton and Royal Academy of Music. They will be studying a wide variety of courses ranging from Mechanical Engineering, Economics, Philosophy, Neuroscience, Marine Biology, Politics & International Relations, English and Drama & Creative Writing.
We are also proud of our students for the other skills that they have learned at St Joseph’s, which will equip them for success at university and beyond. As well as studying for A Levels, they have spent their two years of Sixth Form broadening their horizons, learning life skills and preparing for the future – whether being part of the CAFOD Youth Leadership scheme, running their own company as part of the Young Enterprise programme, completing the Duke of Edinburgh Gold award or achieving their Extended Project Qualification.
Laura Stotesbury, Head at St Joseph’s, said:
“I want to congratulate Year 13 on achieving these results today. It is remarkable that these students, who have never taken external examinations before and are facing stringent grade boundaries despite disruption to learning, have achieved so much; individually and collectively. Only one small part of that achievement will have been captured by the grades they received in results envelopes today. They have worked extremely hard and should be proud of their success – in the exam hall and beyond. I wish them the best of luck as they move on to the next stage of their education or into the workforce.
My heartfelt thanks go to our remarkable staff; they have guided and supported our students over the last two years with unfailing energy, encouragement and enthusiasm.”
Lucas achieved success in his A Levels in Economics, Further Maths, Maths and History and has secured a place at Cambridge to read Economics. His EPQ, for which he achieved A*, was on the topic of Cryptocurrency. He joined in the Sixth Form and says ‘I really enjoyed it. It was a change of pace to what I was previously used to but I adapted well. Everyone here is really nice too. I have grown in confidence a lot as it’s a very nurturing environment and people really want you to do well.’
Cece is very happy with her A in Economics, B in History, B in Religious Studies and an A* in her EPQ which was on the topic ‘Is the portrayal of black characters in children’s TV damaging to society?’. She is going to the University of Birmingham to study Politics and International Relations with a year abroad. She was the first ever chair of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Committee and during her time in post the College reviewed some of the uniform rules for Sixth Form and started planning for a culture week in the future. She has been a Drama scholar, Humanities postelar, Prefect and has participated in several school productions.
Former Head Student, Izzy, achieved an A* in Drama, A in Religious Studies, B in English and an A* for her EPQ in gender inequality in sex work. She is off to Birmingham to read Philosophy. She participated in school productions, was part of CAFOD Young Leaders and played the trumpet and sang. When she was in Year 7 she completed a social outreach project where she encouraged people to bring in old blankets and scarves they no longer needed so the College could donate them to charity. She thinks that set the tone for the type of person she would grow to be here.
Jai (pictured left) achieved A* in Maths and an A in Chemistry, Physics and his EPQ on aircraft design. He is off to Southampton to read Mechanical Engineering. He joined in Year 7 and volleyball club was a particular favourite of his! He also participated in F1 in Schools and STEM club. In Sixth Form he was part of a Young Enterprise group and played the saxophone in various music groups.
Daisy (centre) achieved 3 As in Maths, Biology and Art. She is taking a gap year to complete an A Level in Chemistry as she would like to study Medicine. She joined in Year 7 and stayed until the end of GCSEs. She left to go to Henley College but made the decision to return to St Joseph’s to study A Levels. She thinks St Joseph’s is a perfect place to study if you don’t quite know where you fit. Daisy played both clarinet and trombone and took part in Choir and netball. She also worked on the school magazine that was first published this year by the students.
Former Head Student, Adrian, studied Biology, Chemistry and Maths and is heading for UCL to read Biochemistry. His EPQ topic was the geography of malaria. He joined in Year 7 and was keenly involved in Music and STEM. He says the College is ‘a fantastic school with great opportunities. The people are warm and welcoming and very supportive’.
