As the 2020 summer exams which Year 13 students were due to take this year were cancelled, this year’s students have been awarded grades by the exam boards, based on information supplied by each school. To award the final grades, the exam boards have then applied their own calculations, taking account of performance in previous years, to generate each individual student’s final grades.

The most recent Government announcement stating that students will be able to choose between ‘mock exam’ grades, awarded grades or taking the examinations in the Autumn Term has confused the situation even further. As a result, many students are still awaiting their ‘final’ grades on Results Day. Our main priority is to support the students in this difficult time to ensure they can progress to the next stage of their chosen career pathway.

As a result, none of the usual benchmark data or headline figures which lend themselves to comparisons between this year and other years, or between schools, have any validity this year. Schools in this area have therefore come to an agreement that it would serve no purpose to release such figures into the public domain.

Mr James, Executive Headteacher said “This has been a very challenging time for students, many of whom were disappointed at losing out on the opportunity to prove themselves in the exam hall, and who have endured several months of waiting to find out what grades they would have been awarded.

However, at last, students at Braintree Sixth Form are celebrating the end of their school careers with successes that allow them to go on to take up the opportunities to study further at university or in further education and take up apprenticeships and employment offers which they have been so looking forward to. We wish them all best wishes and good luck for their future.”

Mrs Townsend, Assistant Headteacher & Head of Braintree Sixth Form said “We are proud of the way in which the students have responded to these difficult circumstances and are delighted to celebrate the achievements of so many students.”

Amongst the Year 13 students at Braintree Sixth Form, Chloe Oxford was offered a highly coveted degree apprenticeship with GSK just before the school closure in March. Chloe held university offers from a number of leading UK universities but chose the degree apprenticeship route as it will allow her to study for a degree in Biological Sciences while being fully funded by GSK and obtaining a wide range of work experience throughout the apprenticeship. Her offer was unconditional, but Chloe is nonetheless celebrating A Levels in Biology, Mathematics and Religious Education.

Rebecca Moore will be taking up a place at the University of East Anglia to study Medicine. Pursuing a career in medicine has been a long-held ambition of Rebecca’s and she showed exceptional commitment to achieve this goal throughout her studies. Alongside her A Levels in Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology, Rebecca achieved an AS A grade in Spanish in 2019 and has completed the Extended Project Qualification. A significant number of students will also be moving on to study in courses related to health and medical sciences, including Nursing, Midwifery, Paramedic Science, Biomedical Sciences and Medical Science. Among these is Poppy Summers, who will begin her degree in Midwifery at Kingston University having completed the Extended Project Qualification alongside A levels in Psychology, Geography, Sociology and BTEC Sport. We wish all students every success as they pursue their careers in such significant fields.

Ben Truman, who has been a leading member of the student council as well as being a former Head Boy of the school, will study Law will European Legal Systems at the University of East Anglia. He has been awarded A Levels in Biology, Mathematics and Psychology as well as completing the Extended Project Qualification, an examination of the US Constitution. Vikesh

Patel will study Mathematics at the University of Nottingham having achieved A Levels in Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Computer Science and Physics.

Cordelia Gillan will be travelling the furthest of our Braintree Sixth Form students to begin her studies in Scottish and English Law at the University of Strathclyde. A student governor during her last year at the sixth form, Cordelia has been awarded A Levels in English Literature, History, Law and Religious Education. Her fellow student governor during the past year, Katy Finch, goes on to study Product Design and Technology at the University of Loughborough, having achieved A Levels in Mathematics, Spanish and Product Design.

Other particularly popular subjects for university study this year have been Business Management and related courses and Law, but students from Braintree Sixth Form will go on to study in a wide range of areas, including Fashion Media, Creative Writing, Journalism, Drama, History, English Literature, Aeronautical Engineering, Paleontology, Zoo Biology, Physics, Accounting, Football Business and Marketing, Psychology and Sociology. As well as higher education, students are also pursuing degree apprenticeships, apprenticeships, careers in the armed forces and employment. We wish all students the very best for the future after this long period of uncertainty.

Enrolment at Braintree Sixth Form for Year 12 2020 begins on 20 August this year. Please see the school website for details.