Cockermouth School students received their 2020 A Level results today and, despite the challenges of recent months, staff are delighted that they have seen another very successful year for their Sixth Form students.
Headteacher, Dr Rob Petrie, said: “Cumbrian schools are proud to serve our children, their families and the communities they come from. This year the situation with Covid-19 and the shutdown of schools in March makes this results day unique.
“The grades our students are receiving are the result of the national standardisation of centre-assessed grades that we submitted back in June. We hope that students believe they have received grades that reflect the hard work and depth of learning they have put in throughout their courses. We congratulate them all on the manner in which they have coped in these quite extraordinary times.
“The Department for Education have cancelled Performance Tables for this year and there will be no amalgamated headline results published for schools, which is right and proper given the circumstances around the exams this year. There is no doubt that this decision leaves the focus on those that really deserve it, the people we should all be congratulating; the students.
“Despite the unusual circumstances leading to the release of these exam results, today we want to celebrate our students who have demonstrated maturity and positivity during the coronavirus pandemic. We are so proud of their optimism for the future and share in their excitement for the next stage of their careers.
“Congratulations go to all of our students who have performed exceptionally well in the face of very challenging circumstances; these results maintain the high level of achievement at Cockermouth School Sixth Form. We are delighted that 17 students gained all A*/A grades and these grades cover the full range of subjects that we offer.
“There were many exceptional performances by our students and particular congratulations go to Lydia Hoggarth, Hazel Meier and James Pawson who achieved A* grades in all of their subjects. Vidhi Dhanaliya, Jasmine Gray, Benedict Russell and Mollie Shepherd also performed incredibly well achieving 2 or more A* grades in their A Levels.
“We are delighted with the successes of all of our students, the overwhelming majority of whom have secured their places at their university of choice or on a highly competitive apprenticeship programme.
“These include university places at a range of institutions to study subjects such as French at Oxford University, Politics and French at Edinburgh, Architecture at Newcastle, Drama, Theatre and Performance at Lancaster, Business Management at Sheffield, Mathematics at Edinburgh, Psychology at Manchester, English Literature at Durham and Jazz Studies at Leeds Conservatoire of Music to name a few. In addition, a number of students have been accepted onto high quality apprenticeships in Engineering, Business Management and Project Management.
“This has been an incredibly difficult year for students who have coped admirably with the disruption to their studies and we are delighted that they have been rewarded for their mature and industrious attitude.
“As always, these successes are a partnership and my thanks go to our hardworking and dedicated staff. This year in particular, they have not only done much to support students both academically and pastorally, but have worked tirelessly to ensure that appropriate centre-assessed grades were submitted to reflect the exam result they would have expected students to achieve if they had taken exams this year. We are also very grateful for the continued support that we have received from parents who worked closely with us to ensure the very best for our students.
“We wish all of our students the very best in their future careers.”