Once again our Bosworth Academy Sixth Form students and staff are celebrating many excellent A level and AS level results. After a year and a half of hard work and study, followed by the final months of disruption caused by a pandemic, with huge uncertainty around the grade calculation methodology, our students remained resilient.

Simon Brown, Headteacher

“Our ‘A level Class of 2020’ have had to overcome so many obstacles to achieve the many great results achieved today. Our A Level headline measures, often quoted by the press, are very positive and once again higher than national including at A*, A*/A and A*-B. What really matters though, is our students and their individual achievements. Unfortunately a number of exam boards awarded results today that have left us feeling exasperated at the process they used to allocate A and AS level grades. The concerns our leadership team raised with Ofqual during their consultation process were sadly confirmed today. Basing our students’ outcomes on the grade distribution in subjects over the last three years is wrong as it must be about the individual student, their learning, progress, and their performance. Our staff approached the unprecedented task of determining centre-assessed grades with the utmost professionalism and integrity to ensure all students were assessed fairly on a range of evidence, not trial exam results alone, though many students’ calculated exam grades now differ because of an immoral statistical model. We will be reviewing our results in detail over the next few days and strongly contending with exam boards and Ofqual with an aim to reinstate centre-assessed grades for those students affected.
It is important that we celebrate our student’s incredible tenacity, proactive stance towards learning and their dedication to study throughout their A/AS levels. I am confident they have acquired the skills to navigate ambiguity and change, so important in our current times.Their achievements are a testimony to the commitment and expertise of Bosworth staff who have remained committed to seeing them succeed.”

Louise Holdback, Assistant Head of School – Sixth Form

“Students will have the choice of either using grades awarded by exam boards, their mock exam grades or may choose to sit exams as part of the Autumn series to proceed to University or the workplace. Some may feel that they have been unfairly treated by the system, which does not reflect the grades they deserved and worked so hard for over the last two years. For those students we will ensure that they feel supported by Bosworth Academy and we will liaise with university providers where necessary. When year 13 students this year have already made so many sacrifices it seems unjust that they should be further disadvantaged by an unfair system which does not recognise the challenges they have worked so hard to overcome.”

Some individual successes included:

Ellie, going to Cambridge University to Study Natural Sciences. She is thrilled that she got the results she hoped for, especially after such a strange year. She is now able to progress on to her next step. She got A*s in Biology and Chemistry and A for History.

Hannah and Elizabeth – were both pleased with their results, and are excited about pursuing their chosen subjects at University.

Sam – He was absolutely over the moon with his results and can’t wait to begin at University. He got 3 A*s which has enabled him to get his first choice place at Imperial College, London where he will be studying Mechanical Engineering.

David – He was glad that his anxious wait for the results was over, and he was pleased to get a 2 As and a B so that he can progress on to Loughborough University where he will be studying Sport and Exercise Science.

Mya and James – were glad that their grades reflected the hard work they had put in prior to lockdown. James was happy to be able to get the results needed to study Civil Engineering at Loughborough University.