A Level Results 2020

Happily, this year’s A Level results have seen over 90% of our candidates gain places at their chosen universities and many gain grades of which they will justifiably be proud. We are delighted that a strong, ambitious cohort now leave the College with over three quarters of grades between A* – B.

Amongst pupils deserving particular praise, Michael Wyrley-Birch secured a superb A*A*A*A and will now read Computer Science at the University of Bristol whilst Stepan Zhikharev leaves Bradfield with A*A*A*A also and heads to the University of Warwick to read Physics with Astrophysics. William Brown, Poppy Wallis and Lydia Wells were all awarded 3A*s and leave to read Social Sciences, Neuroscience, and Philosophy respectively.

As things stand, the most common university destinations for this year’s leavers are: Exeter (10); Oxford Brookes (6); Nottingham (8); Edinburgh (8); Newcastle (11); Nottingham Trent (8); Bristol (6), Cardiff (7), Durham (5); Loughborough (5), Leeds (4)Warwick (3); Kent (3), King’s College London (3), Sussex (5). This year three pupils have been accepted into Medicine, one into Neuroscience, one into Nursing and another into Osteopathy – so a good representation of healthcare professions. International destinations so far include Boston, IE Madrid, McGill, Montana, Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, St. Gallen, Wake Forest, Union College, UC San Diego and UCLA

We supported wholeheartedly the government’s decision to award centre-assessed grades. The process by which the College determined these grades was rooted in integrity. Adhering to instructions handed down to all schools and colleges, grades were coloured but not anchored by the performance of previous Bradfield cohorts yet allowed for holistic professional judgements that placed the individual at the centre of our thinking. For this A Level cohort the grades are strong – rightly so for a strong cohort – but not out of line with trends over time.

Our Leavers of 2020 have had a torrid time over the past five months having initially having had their exams cancelled, months of speculation and conjecture around grades and most recently the bruising experience of algorithm-generated grades released by the exam boards. The way that they have conducted themselves throughout this period therefore is testament to their individual and collective character. Throughout their time at Bradfield they have been a fantastic year group; hard working and wonderful company. We wish them well in all their future endeavours.

Neil Burch, Deputy Head (Academic)