Class of 2018 A Level and BTEC results break records

There were hundreds of smiling faces at the College on Thursday morning as the Class of 2018 celebrated another year of record breaking results.

Friends, families and staff from the College came together for a celebratory breakfast, as national TV cameras from BBC Breakfast along with local press and radio came along to capture the biggest moment of many young people’s lives.

The new style systems of A Levels and BTECs have been offering challenges to schools, teachers and students across the country but Birkenhead Sixth Form College students’ results suggest that they rose to the task, with over 60% achieving the highest grades A* - B at A Level and Distinction*/Distinction in BTECs.

A Levels have reverted back to students studying a two year programme with exams at the end, which many consider to be a harder test for teenagers compared to the previous system.

With many schools expecting a drop in performance this year in response to the changes, Birkenhead Sixth Form College has even improved on the results from last year which saw us named the TES ‘UK Sixth Form College of the Year 2018’.

Government school league tables also ranked the College as the best in Wirral for A Levels last year in terms of student progress.

Principal at Birkenhead Sixth Form College, Mike Kilbride, said: “After the successes of the last year, to improve even further on A Level and BTEC performance just proves that our students and staff are not afraid of new challenges.”

“We have a sustainable culture at the College which concentrates on the teaching and learning that takes place each and every day, so when it comes to the results at the end of that process, the outcomes look after themselves. We don’t get stressed about it. The results are the culmination of the phenomenal hard work of the staff and the students, and you don’t get over 60% high grades and more than 99% pass rate without a common commitment to our values of positivity, ambition, resilience and thoughtfulness throughout the two year process.”

Mike concluded: “We have a mixed profile of students from every kind of background at the College and what they have achieved, along with the outstanding skill and determination of the staff, should raise the possibility of a further nomination for the country’s sixth form college of the year in 2019, which they richly deserve.”