Essentially, Brighton sixth formers have bucked the downward national trend again, with some stunning A-level results, including a record number of grades at A* (an impressive 181 A* grades in total). The College also celebrated another rise in the proportion of grades at A* and A, those grades demanded by Oxford, Cambridge and other elite universities.
Just under 30% of grades were at A*, with 75% at A* or A.
Incredibly, 100 boys and girls secured AAA or better in their results, with 44 achieving at least A*A*A and 26 confirming their places at Oxford and Cambridge, including five to Oxford to study Chemistry, more than from any other school in England.
There were so many personal triumphs celebrated today and it was wonderful to see the celebrations of those who have never found their studies easy but have come through today with great results and a coveted university place.
And, just as we laud those sportsmen and women or actors who perform particularly strongly, so we should highlight today the dozens of boys and girls who secured at least AAA:
Osaid Ather A*A*A*A*A* Cambridge
Emily Bacon A*AAB Newcastle
Isabella Bainbridge AAA Leeds
Harriet Barsham A*A*A Durham
Lucy Beauvallet AAA LSE
Gabriel Bickler A*A*A*A Oxford
Jack Bowskill A*A*A*A Durham
Jeremy Bushell AAA St Andrew’s
Daria Butuzova A*AAB UCL
Andy Chan A*A*A*AAA Imperial
Felix Chan A*A*AAA Bath
Ken Cheung A*A*A*AA UCL
Bryan Chua A*A*A*AA UCL
Freya Cook AAA Leeds
Theodore Cook A*AA Exeter
Edward Coombs A*A*A* Oxford
Laura Coppinger A*A*AA Durham
Natasha D’Arcy A*A*A* UAL
Freya Davies AAA Exeter
Annie de Belder A*A*A*B Bristol
Samuel de Belder A*A*AA Bristol
Francesca Douglas A*AA post A-level Application
William Emery A*AAA Durham
Tomas Fiedosiuk A*A*A Manchester
Alistair Foote AAA Brunel
Billy French AAA Exeter
Samuel French AAA post A-level Application
Hugo Gale A*A*A*A Cambridge
Olivia Garry A*A*A*A* Oxford
Noah Glasgow-Simmonds A*A*A* Oxford
Vich Gosonvich A*A*AA Warwick
Sally Gowen A*AA Nottingham
Rebecca Hall AAA Warwick
Olivia Hardy A*A*A UCL
Samit Haria A*AA City
Emma Harris AAA pending
Max Harris AAA KCL
Joshua Hayward AAA LSE
Freddie Henwood A*AA Reading
Veerapat Hirunpatawong A*A*A*A Cambridge
Mattina Hiwaizi A*AA post A-level Application
Mike Hong A*A*A*A*A Cambridge
Chenshan Hu A*A*A*AA Cambridge
Vivian Hui A*A*A*AA Imperial
Amy Huyton-Taylor A*AA Exeter
Tabitha Jackson A*A*A*A* Cambridge
Queenie Je A*A*AAA UCL
Jessica Jones A*AA Leeds
Lucinda Jones A*AA Cambridge
Varadhan Kalidasan A*AAA Bristol
Benedict Keeling A*A*A*A Oxford
Vlada Kozina AAA UCL
Filbert Lam A*A*A*A*AA Imperial
James Lasis AAA Loughborough
Benedict Laurence AAA Manchester
Eleanor Leach A*AA Exeter
Michael Lee A*AAB Bristol
Thomas Liddell-Lowe A*A*A* post A-level Application
Sophia Liu AAA UCL
Joe Lloyd AAA Oxford
Dmitry Lysenko A*A*A*A*A LSE
Owen Male A*A*A Cambridge
James Manzoor A*AAA Imperial
Philippa Marshall AAA Exeter
Tom McQuillin A*AAA Oxford
Izzy Meikle-Small A*A*A* post A-level Application
Thomas Mohan A*AAA Oxford
Cheryl Mok A*A*AAA LSE
Georgia Naar A*AA Falmouth
Anie Naqvi A*A*A* Manchester
Andrew Niblett A*AA Exeter
Alexander Norman A*A*AA Durham
Jan Noszczyk A*A*A* Cambridge
Maya Patel AAA KCL
Oliver Patel A*AAA Warwick
Olivia Pike AAA Leeds
Jemima Poffley A*AA Oxford
Thomas Prideaux de Lacy AAA Nottingham
Sophia Razvi A*A*A Leeds
Minnie Rojanapenkul A*A*A*A* LSE
Carl Rose AAA Leeds
Isobel Shaw AAA Bristol
Emily Simmons A*A*A*A* Cambridge
Rupert Sparling A*A*AA Oxford
Hannah Steiner A*A*A*A* Bath
Salina Tang A*AAA LSE
Finbar Tilford A*AA KCL
Alexander Trafford A*A*AA Oxford
Camilla Vans Agnew A*AA Newcastle
Calum Waters AAA Bristol
Calum Wheeler A*A*AA Cambridge
Sam White AAA post A-level Application
David Wong AAA Bristol
Cathy Wong A*A*A*A*A UCL
Alice Wormald A*AA Bristol
Oliver Yule-Smith AAA KCL
Nicholas Yung A*A*A*A* Oxford
Ariel Zhao A*AABB pending
This was one of those year groups that will not be easily forgotten. They were primarily a year group of entertainers: dancers, actors, jokers, singers, sportsmen and sportswomen. They liked to give the impression that they took their academic studies in their stride, cheerfully assuring us that everything was under control. We were not always convinced. But they did themselves and Brighton proud: a record number of A*s, record numbers to Oxford and Cambridge and, most importantly, huge numbers securing places at top universities. It was always a year group with a sunny disposition and it was lovely to see that reflected on so many faces in the quad this morning. I am delighted for them.
I should also add that the Lower Sixth AS results were also encouraging. They had no opportunity this year to re-sit any modules (unlike their peers over the last twelve years) yet they achieved our second best set of AS results ever, with just under 60% of grades at A.
I can now relax until next week when the GCSE results arrive.