Forest Gate sixth form gets 34 A* grades

St Angela’s and St Bonaventure’s Sixth Form in Forest Gate received its best ever set of A level results this morning which headteacher Mark Johnson called a “phenomenal achievement”.

The co-educational sixth form achieved a pass rate of 78 percent which means that four out of five students got A*-C grades.

The results were so good that half of the students got top A or B grades and there were 34 A*s in total.

It is expected that 96 percent of the sixth form in St George’s Road will go to university and four percent are taking gap years, alternative education or going into the workplace.

The A*-C pass rate for boys, who historically fall far below girls in the results table, has increased by 10 percent at St Bonaventure’s.

Mark Johnson, headteacher of St Angela’s Ursuline, said: “It’s two outstanding schools coming together to make an outstanding sixth form in Newham. It’s a good reminder for everybody in Newham how great the young kids in Newham are and how really well they achieve.

“Today’s a great day, it’s a day where we fulfil a lot of hard work over seven years, particularly in the last two years of A levels.”

Paul Halliwell, headteacher of St Bonaventure’s, said: “The national headlines today are that A level results go up and there’s always somebody trying to flip that round and saying A levels are getting easier. But the reality is, it’s getting tougher for kids. It’s significantly more difficult for kids to get to university than it was when I was going.”

For stories of individual student achievements, see next week’s Recorder on Wednesday.