A Level achievement for High Storrs Students

10th August 21

Today at High Storrs, 236 students received 713 A Level results. And the results are fabulous. This tenacious group of students whose A level experience was disrupted by two lockdowns have achieved great success including a total of 314 A *and A grades and 70.5% A*-B grades overall. A magnificent 65 students have achieved all A* and A grades with 4 students achieving four A* grades! 69 students in total have achieved one or more A* which is testament to their resilience and dedication. Moreover, 7 students have achieved the grades to take up places at Oxbridge across a range of Arts and Science courses.

Students at High Storrs achieved grades in 25 A level subjects and 3 BTECs. The choice of A levels is very wide and includes subjects not widely on offer across the country such as Classics. The Sixth Form also has students taking Theatre Studies, Music, Art and Dance in greater numbers that other centres. A whopping 52 students achieved A* or A in these four creative subjects. But equally High Storrs was thrilled to celebrate 81 top grades in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

Students at High Storrs have done well from all starting points – the pass rate this year is a record 99.9%. Some students found the lockdowns more challenging than others whilst some students have battled personal challenges. The Sixth Form has also included more students than ever before with Special Educational Needs, some of whom achieved very high grades indeed.

Director of Sixth Form, Laura Mason commented that she was ‘thrilled’ with the results achieved by the year group, who she is incredibly proud of. Headteacher, Claire Tasker added that ‘it had been a joy to work with this group of A Level students who were as decent, good and kind as they were talented’. She added that ‘she was also extremely grateful to all the staff at High Storrs who had gone above and beyond to ensure that these ‘Teacher Assessed Grades’ awarded today were robust and fair’. She noted that comments about grade inflation in the press were unhelpful and disrespectful to staff and students who had navigated 18 months like no other in school working tirelessly to educate students and keep them safe. The process to decide the grades was extremely rigorous and the students had worked very hard to prove the levels they have attained.

The school has done their utmost to make the results day as supportive and celebratory as possible but the regulations still in force for schools means that the students each have a set time to come and collect their results to ensure numbers are staggered across the morning. This will mean less of the shrieks and screams usually enjoyed by all but it does still gives us the chance to celebrate all our students including the twins who have achieved 4 A* and 2 A grades between them!

GCSE success for our tenacious students at High Storrs School

Thursday 12th August 21

Today GCSE students at High Storrs School celebrated brilliant and well-deserved GCSE results.

Despite 18 months of disruption 245 Y11 students celebrated a total of 2303 GCSE results. A whopping 76% of students achieved 8 or more GCSE passes and 88% of students achieved a grade 4 or higher in both GCSE English and Maths (key grades to secure their next steps). And a record 67% of HSS students achieved at least a grade 5 in both English and Maths.

There was so much success to celebrate for all our students. 73 students achieved at least one grade 9 and 25 students achieved all grade 7-9s! 9 students achieved all grade 8s and 9s and 2 students achieved all grade 9s!

Headteacher, Claire Tasker, said ‘we are thrilled for our students; anyone who believes that these grades are not as deserved as in previous years lacks any understanding of how rigorous the process to decide these grades was and how hard the students worked to achieve them. They have done themselves proud; navigating two lockdowns and some serious disruption. I am equally full of admiration for our HSS staff who have gone above and beyond time and time again to support our students. We are blessed with wonderful families and a strong community too – the success that our students are celebrating is testament to their talent and commitment and also to all those who support them”.

Results Day was not quite the same as usual as students picked up their grades in pre-arranged slots. Nonetheless there were still squeals of joy and lots of smiles. More students than ever enrolled for places at High Storrs Sixth Form for September 21 – many of them are staying on from Y11. This year’s HSS GCSE cohort have secured the grades to take them to a wide variety of post 16 destinations including apprenticeships.