A and AS Level Results
Fulford School - “A” level results 2009
Top of the class – Fulford Students produce stunning results
9 students gain places at Oxbridge & 3 will go on to study Medicine
Francesca Day and Caroline Hattam got 5 grade “A”s
14 students got 4 grade “A”s and 23 students 3 grade “A”s
Average points score of 399.64 (Girls 402, Boys 395)
Average pts/entry 92.5
Congratulations to all students who have produced another excellent set of results and have reaped the reward of all their hard work over the last two years. These results, which rank among the best the school has achieved, demonstrate the ability and effort that all our Year 13 students have put in over the past two years. It is a fantastic achievement to see 9 students obtain a place at either Oxford or Cambridge and another 3 to study Medicine from a comprehensive school! This also reflects the hard work, dedication, quality of teaching and outstanding pastoral support provided by staff at Fulford School and I am sure that the students and their parents will join with me in thanking the staff for helping guide our youngsters during their time with us.
I would also like to take this opportunity to respond to several articles I read in certain national newspapers whilst on holiday which seek to belittle the achievement of all youngsters in what has become the annual round whereby various commentators seek to disparage the results, achievement and hard work of the nation’s youngsters and teachers.
Unfortunately this knocking of achievement is a common trait amongst a lot of people who should know better and reflects a curmudgeonly attitude towards young people and/or towards anything that demonstrates success and achievement. These are the people who would have us believe that standards are falling and that “A” level exams are not of the same standard as they were 50 years ago. However if you look at reports from 50 years ago they were saying the same thing! Fuel is added to this fire by some universities who go on to say that the quality of students they take in is not as good as it used to be and this reflects the drop in standards. How strange then that the number of students who obtain a first class or upper second class degree has shown a marked improvement in the past five years!!
This week, like many of you I suspect, I have been watching the World Championships and marvelling at numerous wonderful performances, notably that of Usain Bolt in the 100 metres. I have not heard anyone saying that the 100 metres is getting easier after his world record time. You might say he is an exception. However if you look at the times of the other seven athletes in that final and then compare it to Linford Christie’s and Allan Wells’ times in winning Olympic gold for GB, then they would have finished only 6th and last respectively! Why is this? The 100 metres is the same distance. However Athletes today train and diet more scientifically than they did even 15 or 30 years ago, the track and their running shoes have been improved to enhance their time. In the same way teachers today are able to prepare students better for exams than was the case in the past.
The second headline was “Comprehensive schoolteachers fail able students by putting them off applying to Oxbridge.” This a gross distortion and a terrible slur on the professionalism of teachers. For a start not all able students want to go to Oxbridge or, depending on the course e.g. Medicine or Engineering, Oxbridge is actually not the best university for them. Once more at Fulford we have seen a large number of our students take up places at various universities to study Medicine, Engineering, Sciences and Maths. Moreover this year no fewer than 9 students have obtained places at Oxbridge.
It is always a little invidious to pick out individuals when everyone has done so well. However some highlights are:
Oxbridge successes
Student University Subject
Tom Adams Oxford English Lang & Lit
Harry Atkinson Oxford History & Politics
Colin Bramley Oxford Physics
Rachel McCarthy Oxford Music
Francesca Day Cambridge Natural Sciences
Caroline Hattam Cambridge Modern & Medieval Languages
Lydia Onyett Cambridge English
Cameron Reid Cambridge Law
Frankie Robertson Cambridge Computer Science
Tom Adams and Caroline Hattam also obtained a Merit in German in the Advanced Extension paper while Lydia Onyett obtained a Distinction in English in her Advanced Extension Paper.
Medics
Alana Downey Orr Leeds
Sarah Epton Imperial
Dimitry Budarin Glasgow