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English College staff halt holidays to celebrate staggering 7% uptick on 2022’s A Level and BTEC results with students

by Tabitha BardaAugust 17, 2023

With many people still travelling and email alternatives now available, A Level Results Day can be a bit of a non-event in some schools.

Not so in The English College, where the community spirit is such that many teachers chose to take time out of their summer holidays to return to school and support their students on the big day as they received their A Level and BTEC results. Scroll down to see a full photo gallery of today’s Results Day activities.

Lee Tynan, Head of Sixth Form at The English College, says:

“For results day, many members of staff came back early from their holidays to celebrate with the students.

Lee Tynan, Head of Sixth Form, The English College

“The English College’s results day featured a celebration station with music, the school counsellor was on hand to assist any students, and there was also a university support station and a photo station for students and their families. Thankfully, there were more tears of joy than sadness!”

Principal Mark Ford celebrates A Level and BTEC results with students

While exam boards warned of plummeting grades for 2023 in an effort to correct Covid grade inflation, The English College evaporated these concerns, instead reporting their best set of exam results ever.

Not only did their students improve on A Level performance from 2019 (the last pre-pandemic year that exam boards advise comparing with this year’s results), but they achieved an incredible 7% uptick in grades from 2022, when exams were still being marked more generously.

Emily Hopkinson, Head of Secondary at The English College, explains:

“Considering the media hype with the UK government moving A level results back in line with pre-pandemic levels, we expected a drop in A level results this year.

“Quite the contrary at EC – we are celebrating our best ever set of A level examination results with a 5% increase in A*-A grades, a 2% increase in A*-B grades and a 7% increase in A*-C grades from 2022!

Emily Hopkinson, Head of Secondary, The English College

“I could not be prouder of our school community – our students and staff have had an incredible year and these results top off what has seen success after success for the school.

“As always, we could not do what we do without our supportive parents, our hardworking staff and our dedicated leaders. This truly feels like a team effort and one that should be vigorously celebrated by all members of our school community. Congratulations to our entire EC community.

“EC students will now leave us to study a huge range of courses, at top Universities across the globe, to further their passions and interests. Well done EC!”

Mark Ford, Principal, The English College

Mark Ford, Principal, The English College, added:

“We are delighted with this set of results and pleased that the hard work – of both the students taking the exams and the teachers preparing them – has been recognised and rewarded.

“These are the second exam-based grades – rather than teacher awarded -since 2019 and our Year 13 students have surpassed our expectations, particularly in light of the drop in top grades awarded world-wide this year. Well done to the Year 13 students and their teachers.”

The cohort of 95 students at The English College, Dubai entering for the A level qualification achieved the following results:

A*: 7%

A*A: 33%

A*B: 65%

A*C: 89%

The pass rate was 99%

The English College also offers BTEC as well as the more traditional subjects for A Level

The English College BTEC Results

The cohort of 15 students at The English College, Dubai entering for Level 3 BTEC qualification achieved the following results:

Pass: 0%

Merit: 26%

Distinction: 53%

Distinction*: 21%

Cumulatively

D*= 21%

D*-D = 74%

D*-M = 100%

D*-P (PASS rate) – 100%

The pass rate was 100%.

45% of The English College’s UK applicants hold offers from a Russell Group university.

Destination countries this year encompass UK, USA, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Czech Republic, Canada, Netherlands, UAE, Cyprus and Australia.

Mr Tynan, Head of Sixth Form, says:

“We have several students who have been accepted in to the top Universities in the UK, this includes; Philipp who will read Management at The London School of Economics and Political Science; Kiera who will read Law at The London School of Economics and Political Science; Keira who will read Business Management at the University of Manchester; Christia who will read Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College; and Ailine who will read Design Engineering at The University of Bristol.

“Honey Kirby has been accepted into the highly competitive East 15 Acting School.

“Four students will be studying Medicine across the globe.”

While there were many successes, not every student can receive exactly the results they want, and The English College staff were keen to be on hand to support anyone who might need it. Tynan adds:

“The students who did not achieve their university offers received full support through the clearing process, calling universities and ensuring complete support of students to help them enter university. Those affected will continue to receive support until they have an appropriate placement that suits their aspirations.”

English College A Level and BTEC Results in numbers

A Level results	2023	2022	2021	2019
Name of School		The English College, Dubai
No. of students in A level cohort:	94	75	79	78
No. of exam entries	279	207	231	195
% of exam entries graded A*	7%	10%	28%	7%
% of exam entries graded A*-A	33%	29%	54%	25%
% of exam entries graded A*-B	65%	64%	77%	57%
% of exam entries graded A*-C	90%	84%	94%	83%
% of exam entries graded A*- E	99%	98%	100%	100%
Overall pass rate A*-E	99%	98%	100%	100%
Number of students excluded from the statistics (staff, non-students etc)	0	0	0	0
Highest number of grades by individual students	AAA*	AAA*	AAAA	A* A* A A
				A* A* A A

AS Level results	2023	2022	2021	2019
Name of School		The English College, Dubai
No. of students in A level cohort:	106	99	82	70
No. of exam entries	284	271	210	218
% of exam entries graded A	25%	43%	46%	17%
% of exam entries graded A-B	48%	66%	69%	36%
% of exam entries graded A-C	72%	81%	85%	65%
% of exam entries graded A- E	95%	96%	98%	93%
Overall pass rate A-E	95%	96%	98%	93%
Number of students excluded from the statistics (staff, non-students etc)	0	0	0	0
Highest number of grades by individual students	AAAB	AAAA	AAAA	AAAB

BTEC Level 3 results	2023	2022	2021	2019
Name of School	The English College, Dubai
No. of students in BTEC Level 3 cohort:	15	12	15	21
No. of BTEC entries	34	15	19	31
% of entries graded Distinction*	21%	57%	69%	67%
% of entries graded Distinction	53%	24%	15%	12%
% of entries graded Merit	26%	5%	4%	9%
% of entries graded Pass	0%	14%	12%	12%
% of entries graded Unclassified	0%	0%	0%	0%
Overall pass rate	100%	100%	100%	100%
Number of students excluded from the statistics	0	0	0	0
Highest number of grades by individual students	DDD	DDD*	DDD*	DDD*