Varndean College in Brighton is delighted with the success of its students who have once again maintained an impressive record of A Level and Vocational exam results.

1008 A Level exams were taken Overall pass rate at A level was 97.8% with 48.7% achieving A*-B and 75.5% achieving A*-C grades 19 A level subjects had a 100% pass rate Visual Arts courses (Art, Graphic Design, 3D Design, Textiles and Photography) were once again particularly impressive. Out of the 250 entries, all subjects achieved a 100% pass rate with 94% of students achieving A*- C grades and 30.4% achieving the prestigious A* grade.

Varndean College also offers a comprehensive programme of A Level equivalent vocational courses, which many students take alongside traditional A Levels, and once again these results are equally impressive.

Principal, Phil Harland, said; “We are extremely proud of the excellent results achieved by our students, particularly in light of the recent changes to A Levels which has made them even more challenging than before. Students and staff have worked extremely hard over the last two years and thoroughly deserve this success. Once again Varndean College looks set to have outstanding value added, as students have achieved higher grades than their GCSE results originally predicted.”

This A Level success follows on from Varndean’s second best ever International Baccalaureate results back in July, when 42 IB Diploma students averaged 36.12 points, the equivalent to three A grades at A Level, with 11 students (26%) gaining 40 points or above. Seventy-five per cent of those applying to UCAS have acquired places at Russell Group universities, including two at Oxford and Cambridge and six studying Medicine. One student, Samuel Segal (ex Chailey School), gained an incredible maximum score of 45 points, putting him in the top 0.5% of students worldwide, and is now going on to study Medicine at Sheffield University. Portia Smith (ex Brighton College) gained 43 points and will be studying Medicine at Cambridge and Gemma Robson (ex Patcham High) gained 41 points and will be studying History at Oxford.

IB Co-ordinator, Emily Board, couldn’t praise the students highly enough. "The International Baccalaureate is certainly a challenge but it produces confident and articulate young people who know a lot about the world around them and can really think for themselves. It’s been a great pleasure working with them all and we wish them all the success in their future careers. They are a real credit to the College."