Katharine Wootton 
All those late night revision sessions, blind pre-exam panic and weeks of agonising wait have finally come to a climax this morning for A-level students across York as exam results are published. And despite efforts by exam chiefs to reduce the perennial year-by-year rise in the standards of results, colleges and schools from across the region are again reporting record success for their youngsters.
For York College, it was smiles all round as the college announced a 99.7% pass rate and an outstanding 77 A* grades, putting the college’s credentials firmly ahead of the national average for the eighteenth consecutive year. For many of the college’s high-flying students, this success also opens the path to an exciting future at some of the country’s top universities, including Oxford University, where Ben Middleton and Joe Towse will begin as Freshmen in a few weeks’ time. Star of the show, Olga Loza with the top A-level results at the college, has also firmly secured her place to study psychology at St Andrew’s after gaining a jaw-dropping 4 A*s and 2 As alongside an A* for her Extended project Qualification.
Dr Alison Birkinshaw, Principal of York College, said: “I am overjoyed that once again we have surpassed our previous year’s A Level pass rate. The 99.7% pass rate, the exceptional number of high grades and the success of our students are all testament to the hard work, commitment and dedication of everyone at York College. These results will give our students a real advantage when they move on to higher education and employment and I would like to wish them all every success in their future careers, they really deserve it.”
Pupils at St Peter’s School, York, also celebrated a record year with a 23% grade A* pass rate at A-level that saw 9 students achieve straight A*s in three or more A levels and 69 gainat least one A*. 87% of all A-levels taken at the college, one of the oldest in the world, were also awarded an A*-B grade. Seven pupils from the school will now be awaiting their gowns and caps to become part of the Oxbridge community, whilst one pupil will take his place at Harvard, renowned as the world’s best university.
Over at Bootham School, students and staff were as equally delighted with the outcome of today’s results that show a 99.11% pass rate overall and 70% pass at A*-B grade. Twelve candidates from a total year group of 69 have also gained four or more A*/A grades at A-level.
These results closely follow the wider Yorkshire trend of rising results, but in some cases disprove the surprising drop recorded nationally in the percentage of exams awarded an A or A*- a figure that has decreased by 0.4%, reportedly the biggest fall since 1990. Across the country, the number of students accepted onto university courses has also dropped by almost 7%, a statistic potentially caused by the number of students surprisingly falling short of those highest grades.
One & Other sends its very best wishes for the future to all students who nervously opened their A-level results this morning.
