Birkenhead Sixth Form College students smash expectations

18 August 2022

Birkenhead Sixth Form College is celebrating their students’ best ever A Level results on the first year that exams have been sat since 2019.

With the expectation that students would struggle to cope with the demands of taking final exams for the first time in two years, the college’s students achieved a ground-breaking high grade percentage of 60.4% of all grades being between A*- B at A Level – a massive 15% higher than the last time that formal exams were taken in 2019.

The students’ results come off the back of never having sat official GCSE exams, and are a product of a calm, diligent approach to specialist sixth form education and a determination to never let circumstances stand in the way of delivering top class teaching, whether virtually or in-person.

The record breaking figures further catapult the reputation of our award-winning college into a leading sixth form in the country, taking in a wide spectrum of students from around 60 different high schools each year, and raising their academic and personal aspirations.

Over 80% of final year students will now go on to university, with many being the first generation in their family to do so.

The range of undergraduate courses that students now move to spans from medicine and veterinary science to engineering, nursing, law and real estate.

Four students earned the astonishing clean sweep of top grades with three A*s each, while the College’s out-going head students Abbie Williams and Jack Sibeon achieved two A*s within their results, enabling them to go to their first choice universities.

Other students from the College are starting prestigious and highly competitive apprenticeships in September, choosing a different route to their future careers.

Principal at Birkenhead Sixth Form College, Mike Kilbride, said: “This is an absolutely remarkable achievement from our students, not least because they came to us having not sat all-important external exams before.

“The entire process of taking exams is not just about the performance in the exam: it’s the process of revision and building up to that final performance that matters most, so for our students to produce this level of excellence having not experienced anything like the pressure of terminal exams before makes the achievement all the more astounding.”

Mike continued: “While the students’ success needs to be celebrated, equally commendable is the evident quality of the staff here at the college. This record-breaking year is testament to their unwavering commitment to specialist teaching, and being the expert in the room. They have taken students who joined us essentially with one arm tied behind their backs and made them the biggest achievers we’ve ever had.

“The staff continued to teach through every lockdown to never let our students’ academic journeys suffer, and they inspire students every day to better themselves and not just fulfil their potential but surpass it by a distance.

“Saying that we are proud of everyone’s achievements this year is an understatement. The students and staff have knocked it out of the park. Although, it doesn’t surprise me. What our students and staff do every day is what matters, and students always leave us as high academic performers, but most importantly as well-rounded individuals who are ready to contribute immensely to society as a whole.”