Sixth Form Students Excel Academically and Beyond

Published by Brentwood School on Tuesday 3rd of September 2024

Brentwood School’s Sixth Form students, equipped with excellent academic achievements, a formative foundation of enduring values, and a string of co-curricular successes, are ready to embrace the next chapter of their lives.

Today’s impressive A Level and BTEC results follow swiftly on the heels of the school being shortlisted by the Times Educational Supplement for their Independent School of the Year award and record-breaking International Baccalaureate Diploma achievements, which saw Brentwood return an average of 38.3 points (roughly equivalent to A*AA at A Level), confirming its position among the Top Ten IB schools in the UK. Reflecting the global, outward-facing spirit of the IB Diploma, no fewer than seventeen students are heading overseas for their university education, spanning the Far East, Europe and the USA. Among these success stories, Uliana Zinchenko, who came to the UK on the Ukrainian Family Scheme following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and was awarded a fully-funded place at Brentwood, attained the top IB grade of 7 in English Language and Literature and 6 in Economics and Global Politics. She has been accepted to UCL to read Economics and Business with East European Studies.

The 31 students who followed the Sport or Business BTEC Extended Diploma (worth the equivalent of three A Levels) also celebrated outstanding results. Five achieved the equivalent of A*A*A* at A Level, ten the equivalent of A*A*A and a further eleven the equivalent of A*AA, all of which explains the fact that every single BTEC student is heading off to their first choice destination. Our five BTEC Sport students will continue their studies at the universities of Durham, Birmingham, Loughborough, Hertfordshire and Exeter, while of the twenty-six who studied BTEC Business, seventeen secured university places - seven to Exeter - on courses ranging from Accounting & Finance to Criminology to Marketing. The remaining six will combine work and study as they start highly competitive apprenticeships.

The 132-strong A Level cohort celebrated a 100% pass rate, with almost three-quarters of the grades awarded at A*, A or B. Brentwood is one of the few independent schools in the country to offer three Sixth Form pathways - the IB Diploma, the BTEC Extended Diploma and A Levels - and when combined, 54.2% of this year’s grades were A* or A (or equivalent) and 80.5% A*, A or B.

It’s often said that to get something done it’s best to ask a busy person, and the Class of 2024 have personified this ethos throughout their time at Brentwood. Their accomplishments extend far beyond these impressive academic grades and include achievements in the Performing Arts, Sport, Combined Cadet Force, Model United Nations and community service, many of them at regional or national level. Many of the top academic performers included standout musicians, dancers, actors and sports stars; twenty-five joined the school at the tender age of three and have been at Brentwood for fifteen years; and this cohort included enthusiastic Bursary Ambassadors, supportive Peer Mentors and Mental Health First Aiders, all ably demonstrating the school’s mission to ‘enable pupils to become the best version of themselves by developing Virtue, Learning and Manners’.

Among the many individual stories of success was Deputy Head of School, rugby-playing, Oxford-bound Faris Fahal, one of those who has been at Brentwood since the age of 3. His 3 A*s secured him a place at New College, to study Arabic. Faris, who would be celebrating his stellar results with family, said: “I am very grateful for all the support from teachers. I have been at Brentwood for 15 years and couldn’t have asked for a better school.”

Despite suffering a broken leg playing football earlier this year, and consequently missing out on Brentwood’s victory in the Independent Schools National Golf Finals, Golf Captain and 1st XI Football Captain, Max Porteous, showed the grit and determination to turn adversity into triumph with ABB in his A Levels and a golf scholarship to Southeastern University, Florida. Max first represented the school’s golf team in Year 8 before leading the record-breaking school team with distinction over the past two years.

Golf is part of a vast and exciting co-curricular programme which enjoys national prominence, with students regularly achieving top sporting honours both nationally and internationally. In Netball, Cross-country, Athletics and Fencing, the school regularly reaches National Finals or equivalent. Similar recent successes have been celebrated in Squash, Football, Hockey, Rugby and Cricket, while the school’s swimmers continue their regional domination in the pool. So, it is no surprise that top performers also included UK Under 20 Top 10 indoor 800m runner, Holly Watson, who was awarded 3 D*s in her BTEC (the equivalent of A*A*A* at A Level) and who will shortly join the Elite Sporting Pathway at the University of Loughborough. Tennis player Hannah Burke is heading to Durham following a Gap Year; Hockey and Netball player Anna Lees, whose three A* grades secured a place at Nottingham, will study International Management; and Triathlete Larna Morgan, who recently completed the Swansea Half-Iron Man in just over 6 hours (despite having had Covid the previous week!) will read Sport Rehabilitation at Nottingham University as well as being part of their elite sporting programme. In an increasingly sedentary society where fewer girls continue with organised sport as they move through adolescence than boys, it’s safe to say that Brentwood School is bucking that particular trend!

Not to be outdone (and in the interests of gender balance!), all rounder Evan Ackerman, who made sure to turn out for the school every Saturday playing 1st XI football and cricket, scored an impressive A*A*A at A Level and will no doubt be a team player at the University of Birmingham when he studies Economics.

Some of Brentwood’s most prolific and outstanding Performing Arts students were part of this year’s cohort including Deputy Head of School and Bursary Recipient, Owen Romhany, who sets off tomorrow on the Music Department’s tour to La Rochelle. Owen was awarded A*AA and EPQ A* and heads to Durham to read Theology and Religion where he is also the recipient of a Vice Chancellor’s Scholarship for musical excellence. “Co- curricular at Brentwood has definitely been my highlight,” he said. Oliver Maltby was delighted to have won a coveted place at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and singer Ben Walsh, who had a leading role in the spectacular Winter Theatrical production of ‘West Side Story’ heads to Reading to study Film and Television.

Meanwhile, Dance Captain Isabella Colvill’s impressive A*AAA (and A* in EPQ) sees her heading to Bath University to study Management but will continue to dance as she has a part-time teaching position with the Royal Ballet. She thanked her teachers for all their revision support and made special mention of Head of Dance, Mrs Michelle Carabache.

Trailblazer Poppy Knowles, a Bursary student whose place at Brentwood was funded by the generous donations that support the school’s Foundation, will be the first in her family to go to university having secured the A*AB grades that clinched a place at the University of East Anglia to read Actuarial Science.

It will be a night of family celebrations for Grace Sullivan, the youngest of four siblings to attend Brentwood, continuing a family tradition that began with both her father and grandfather. Grace, who secured D*DD in her Business BTEC and is heading to Oxford Brookes University to study International Tourism and Hospitality Management, said: “I’m excited to say I’m finally an Old Brentwood!” For dad, Paul, it was a bittersweet moment: “It is the end of a 23-year era of sending our children to Brentwood School.”

Head of School Erin Young, A*AA and EPQ A*, has ‘loved every minute’ of her time at school. “It will be weird not to be a student here but I’m excited for the future,” she said. Erin is off to Durham to read Classics.

Fellow Deputy Head of School and Mental Health Champion, Duaa Sultan, added: “Coming to Brentwood was the best decision I’ve ever made. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Everything has been amazing, especially the teachers.” She will take her three A*s and EPQ A* to Exeter where she will embark on a Medicine course.

Sereya Mee described her move to Brentwood’s Sixth Form as her ‘best decision’ resulting in A*A*AA grades and a place at the University of Birmingham to study Physics.

Headmaster Michael Bond said: ‘The Class of 2024 have been an excellent group of young people who have contributed greatly to our community across a wide range of areas too numerous to mention. Their achievements within and beyond the classroom are a wonderful testament to their ambition and dedication as well as the support of those who work every day in our community to help our students become the very best they can be. In an age when young people are often caricatured and maligned, our outgoing Upper Sixth are an excellent advert for the holistic education we offer and, perhaps most of all, offer lots of reasons to be optimistic about the future.’

Director of Sixth Form, Mr Tim Sellers, echoed Mr Bond’s sentiments: “Our Upper Sixth leavers have been a fantastic year group and we are incredibly proud of all their achievements academically as well as in all other aspects of school life, and beyond in the wider community. Many congratulations to them all, and we wish them well as they head on to the next stage of their journey to university, apprenticeships or the work place both in the UK and across the world. They have been tremendous leaders and role models and we look forward to hearing of their future successes!