A-Level Results: Wycombe Abbey Boarding School Tops League Table For Fifth Year Running

Girls' Boarding School Tops League Table Five Years Running

A girls' boarding school today topped an A-level league table for the fifth year in a row.

Wycombe Abbey in Buckinghamshire took the first spot again after pupils racked up a string of A* and A grades.

Each student gained an average combined A and AS-level UCAS point score of 540.

This is equivalent to almost four A* A-level grades each.

In total, 85 sixth-formers achieved 284 A* and A grades between them.

Wycombe Abbey, a private school charging up to £10,650 per year for boarders, and £7,990 for day pupils, teaches girls aged 11 to 18.

The school has been consistently at the top of a league table of private schools for five years.

The table, based on data provided by the Independent Schools Council (ISC), reveals that Concord College, a boarding school in Shropshire catering to boys and girls aged 13 to 19, was second nationally for A-level results this year.

Principal Neil Hawkins said the college's students had worked "incredibly hard" for their grades.

He said that behind the "bald statistics" there had been some individual "triumphs" with students over-performing.

Hawkins put the school's success partly down to the environment created by a boarding school.

"There's that opportunity to create a community where there's the expectation of success.

"That certainly is what we're able to do here."

Concord's 149 A-level students achieved an average AS and A-level UCAS points score of 501, and between them notched up 204 A* grades and 211 As.

Hawkins said A-levels are "something I believe in very much".

"I think it's a fantastic qualification which allows students to specialise."

He added that he was in favour of the move to introduced the A* grade at A-level because "it has given a benchmark which has been very useful at the top end".

Overall, private schools saw a drop in A-level results this year, reflecting the national picture.

Some 51.4% of A-level entries from privately educated pupils achieved at least an A grade this year, down from 52.9% in 2011.

And 17.99% of fee-paying school entries were given an A*, down from 19.07% last year.

The ISC said that its preliminary findings showed that 6.1% of its candidates, around 2,036 pupils, were awarded three or more A*s.

National A-level results, published by the Joint Council for Qualifications last week, showed that across England, Wales and Northern Ireland 26.6% of all entries were awarded an A or A*, down from 27% in 2011 - a drop of 0.4%.

It is believed to be the biggest fall on record for A-levels.

Some 7.9% of exams have been awarded an A*, a drop from 8.2% last year.

The ISC published results from 492 schools, taking a range of qualifications, including A-levels, the International Baccalaureate (IB) BTECs, the extended project qualification and the Cambridge Pre-U examination.

The Abbey School in Reading scored highest in terms of the IB, with 14 pupils taking the qualification achieving an average UCAS points score of 575.

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