A Level Results 2024 at The Portsmouth Grammar School
Published by The Portsmouth Grammar School on Thursday 15th of August 2024
At The Portsmouth Grammar School today there was much to celebrate as nearly a fifth of A-Level grades were an A*, over a quarter of pupils achieved straight A* or A grades and third of all pupils have received at least one A* grade.
“This is the highest percentage of A* grades awarded to our pupils since A Levels were reformed in 2015 and an increase on last year’s impressive achievement,” said Mr David Wickes, Head of The Portsmouth Grammar School. “These grades have been achieved in a wide range of subjects including the Sciences, the Arts, Languages and Humanities. This is alongside the strong achievements of our pupils in the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) earlier this year. This is only achieved through our focus of providing our pupils with opportunities to grow, individualised support, and their impressive commitment to their subjects. I am proud of them all and that they have achieved.”
All six Oxbridge pupils this year achieved the grades they needed to go on to colleges at Oxford and Cambridge to study their chosen subjects, Medicine, Engineering, Mathematics Veterinary Science, Biology and Computer Science and Biology.
Henry B – Medicine, Jesus College, Oxford
Edward H – Economics & Management, Balliol College, Oxford
Oliver O – Engineering, Brasenose College, Oxford
Andrei T – Mathematics & Computer Science, Worcester College, Oxford
Hannah W – Biology, Brasenose College, Oxford
Madeleine S - Veterinary Science, Robinson College, Cambridge
“PGS has helped me grow as a person,” said Madeleine who joined the school in Year 4 and is now heading to Cambridge. “It has made me more confident to take opportunities that I wouldn’t have done otherwise.” Hannah, who will now be going to Oxford and joined PGS in Year 7 echoed this sentiment adding “Everyone here has always been supportive, no matter what you are working on or how you are doing, the support from everyone has been amazing.”
9 out of 10 pupils will be going on to study at their university of choice, with destinations including Imperial College London, Bath, Exeter, London School of Economics, Durham, Manchester, Southampton and Warwick. Subjects being read at university range from Medicine, Economics, International Relations, and Mathematics, to Drama, Law, Physics, Engineering and War Studies.
Of note this year were the achievements of pupils in Mathematics and Computer Science, where 50% achieved an A* grade, Art and Drama, where 67% were awarded an A*, and Economics and Politics, where 80% of pupils achieved A*-A grades.
Edward is going on to read Economics & Management at Oxford, joining PGS for Sixth Form. “It has been a bit of a whirlwind, but I am really pleased with my results today. The main memory I’ll take from PGS are the friends I’ve made and how supportive everyone has been to help me achieve what I wanted to.”
Earlier this year The Portsmouth Grammar School celebrated 95% of the EPQ grades awarded to pupils being A*-B. The EPQ is equivalent to half an A Level and demonstrates to universities the ability to study at depth and independently. All the pupils who undertake the EPQ along with pupils who do a PGS Extend project have their work considered for the school’s Ithaka Prize. The winner of the prize this year was Annika B for her EPQ project entitled “Can Physical and mental exercise be effective in delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease?” Today she was adding to this celebration having achieved three A* grades which will take her to Exeter to read Medical Science.
“It is a delight to see the success of pupils who joined our community in the Sixth Form,” continued David Wickes. “Our aim is to help them transition quickly into their new surroundings and then provide ongoing guidance, support and inspiration as they continue their journey with us. Seeing what they have achieved not only today but throughout their time with us as well as the universities to which they are headed is simply fantastic.”
Mackenzie, pictured on the right with fellow Drama A Level pupils Jake and Sienna, was celebrating today having secured his place at Exeter to study Drama, “I got above what I was expecting so I’m very happy. If I had a piece of advice for myself when I started A Levels it is to pay attention during Year 12 History, because I didn’t, I watched the World Cup instead. So, I had to work much harder than I should have had to in Year 13!”
“Today is an opportunity to celebrate the achievements and hard work of all our pupils,” concluded David Wickes. “Our Leavers have been a tremendous year group at the school and have led the way in so many of our achievements beyond the classroom this year, whether that has been on the stage taking lead roles in the school musical or winning national music competitions at top venues in London, being selected as the Lord Lieutenant’s Cadet, reaching national semi-finals on the rugby pitch or mentoring our younger pupils, I wish them every happiness and success for the next stage in their lives and look forward to seeing them back at their school in the future to hear what they have done.”
