Buxton Community School students praised for 'outstanding' A Level results

The school’s headteacher and head of sixth form have both said the results announced today reflect the ambition, ability and determination to succeed of students.

Fifteen students at Buxton Community School gained three A/A* grades, with 40 per cent of all students gaining at least one A grade.

Twenty seven students completed BTEC qualifications, with 48 per cent achieving a Distinction/Distinction*.

Headteacher Craig Yates said: “Buxton Community School’s Sixth Form students have achieved outstanding results this summer.

“There are too many impressive individual performances to list, but we are delighted for all of them.”

On top of the normal pressures of A level study they have endured 15 months of disrupted education because of the pandemic and they have had to cope and adapt to significant changes in the way they have had to access learning.

However head of sixth form Jackie Cruse said: “Through this they have become more independent than ever in their time management and organisation.

"Finally, they had to prepare for many rigorous assessments – often more than they would have sat for conventional A level exams.

"The pressure on them has been enormous but they have coped admirably well with good grace and humour.”

Despite the difficult year the students have still found time for extra activities to enrich their sixth form experience.

Eleven students completed an additional Extended Project Qualification, all gaining A*- B grades and, only a few weeks ago, six students even managed to complete their Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award, such was their perseverance and commitment.

Whilst some BCS students are seeking apprenticeships or taking a gap year, most are going on to universities throughout the country, from Exeter to Durham and from

Loughborough to Bristol, and the school has pupils who have even gained places at both Oxford and Cambridge.

One student has secured a prestigious degree apprenticeship with the technology giant Amazon.

Jackie added: “It would be no exaggeration to describe this year as extraordinary, but we are very confident that we’ve nurtured a cohort of young people who will be able to adapt

quickly in a constantly changing world; they have shown impressive reserves of strength and resilience in overcoming adversity and we are immensely proud of them all.”

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