Canford School say they are absolutely delighted with the outstanding results achieved by Canfordians sitting A Level and Pre-U examinations this summer, with 40.4% of all grades awarded A*, 73.7% A*/A and 92.4% A*/B.

Nationally, 14.5% of all grades awarded are A* and 35.9% A*/A, while in the Independent Schools sector overall, the average is 28.7% for A* and 58% for A*/A.

The school added that the last few years have been very difficult for teachers, pupils and their families and exam boards alike.

Comparisons with previous exam years need to be considered in context as the landscape and factors, which affected the award of Centre Assessed Grades of 2020 (CAGs) and Teacher Assessed Grades of 2021 (TAGs) were very different.

Despite reports that results nationally are markedly lower than the 2020 and 2021 grades, Canford’s A* grades are 16.9% higher, A*/A 4.1% higher and A*/B 1.5% higher than the CAGs of 2020. The results today are only marginally lower than last year’s TAGs.

Canford has seen excellence across all faculties, with Arts, Sciences and Humanities all recording high percentages of top grades. At least 80% of all Music, Maths, Further Maths, Economics, Geography, Physics, Computing and Chemistry papers were awarded A*/A grades, while in Pre-U there were D1s (beyond  an A* at A Level) in French and Spanish with 100% of all German papers graded D1-D2 (A*/A). Three quarters of all Extended Project Qualifications (EPQs) were graded A*/A. Twenty pupils were awarded three A* grades and five pupils gained four A*s.

In a year where, reportedly, universities made fewer offers, the 156 Canfordians who applied received over 500 offers and nearly 80% of these were from the highly sought after Russell Group/Sunday Times Top 12 institutions. All 10 pupils holding Oxbridge offers and eight applicants for the highly competitive Medical courses have all met their required grades, while five pupils are heading to universities including Ivy League in the US, four with scholarships. 95% of pupils have been placed in their first choice university so far.

Headmaster Ben Vessey said: “These wonderful results are testament to the character and quality of our pupils and to their tremendous efforts alongside those of their teachers who have dedicated themselves tirelessly to ensure that Canfordians were as well prepared as possible for sitting their first major senior exams. I also want to thank these pupils’ families for their support, and the examination regulators and boards who offered a great deal of helpful advice and guidance. Our successful programme of remote learning has also played a crucial role in the continuity of education for all our pupils throughout the pandemic and I am sure contributed to such high quality outcomes.”