It is pouring with rain here this morning, but the smiles are wide and bright on the faces of our A Level students following some excellent results.
What is particularly heart-warming is that the overwhelming majority of students have performed well enough to enter their first or second choice universities. Only a tiny handful of students were faced with clearing, and were benefiting from the expert advice of Nigel Williams and Ken Sullivan as they sought a place on a course.
Nationally there has been a scramble for places. Applications have risen by 13.3% for undergraduates since 2009. The number of gap year applications has fallen by 40% (some 20,000 students), and this morning the UCAS website saw a four-fold increase in traffic on last year, causing it to crash and add to the frustration for so many students and their families. All this due to the fact that this will be the final year to enter an undergraduate course before the introduction of tuition fees in 2012.
Set against this panic, Leighton Park's success is testimony to the excellent advice given to students by their teachers, and the hard work of staff and students to achieve their goals.
The quality of grades were excellent, too.
Set against the national average, Leighton Park managed 13.2% A* grades, compared to 8.2% nationally. The A*/A percentage was 41% for Leighton Park, compared with a national figure of 27%. The pass rate of 99.4% compared very favourably with the 97.8% national figure. Leighton Park has demonstrated yet again that a school which has a broad intake in ability can add considerable value to the outcome of a child's academic education, alongside the breadth and depth of our extra-curricular provision and pastoral care.
I am delighted with our results, and very proud of staff and pupils at Leighton Park School.