Badminton students celebrate A Level success and now look forward to thriving in new surroundings

Students at Badminton joined their peers across the country this morning in being deservedly proud of impressive results.

Two thirds of students achieved three grades at A/A* level and over a quarter of students gained an exceptional three A* grades. Every candidate studying a Modern Foreign Language achieved an A* or A grade, a standout success with students excelling across the range of languages, including A Level Japanese.

Badminton students gained places on courses at a range of top universities including Oxford, Imperial College London and Durham University, as well as other renowned establishments such as The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. An exceptional 86% of placements were at the students’ first choice university. Notable successes were to be found in applications to read Law: one student has a place at Pembroke College Oxford, while two others have places at the London School of Economics. One of the four successful students going on to study Medicine was Ankita who said: 'I am really looking forward to studying at Imperial in October. While A Levels have been a fairly gruelling process, I have enjoyed other activities during this time such as Diversity Club, Sign Language Club and being Head Girl.'

Art student Sarah was delighted to find this morning, when she checked her emails, that she has been awarded a scholarship to study for an Art foundation course at Bath Spa University as she exceeded the conditions of her offer. “I am very excited to take the first steps in pursuing a career in Graphic Communication, an area that I am really interested in. The teaching and resources that I’ve had at Badminton have given me skills and confidence in my subject ability”.  

Badminton students have also achieved in a varied range of activities alongside their chosen A Levels, seizing opportunities to broaden their horizons, both online last year and in person this year. All the students who chose to take the Apprenticeship of Fine Arts Creative Writing Course achieved top grades. Similarly, all students choosing to take AS Graphics achieved an A Grade.

It’s not just in terms of examinations that students have shown a willingness to embrace new challenges. The cohort have embraced opportunities to take Badminton’s Science Outreach Programme to the Festival of Tomorrow and Green Man Festival. The prospect of broadening their horizons and moving on to new surroundings led a number of students to apply for the School’s travel award which was awarded this year to Helena and Chloe who plan to travel to volunteer in Albania and Hong Kong respectively. Helena who will next year take up a place to study Law said “I am so pleased to know that I will be starting to study at the London School of Economics and Political Science this September. My time at Badminton has equipped me with fundamental skills such as public speaking and debating which have all given me extra confidence when starting university this September. I feel excited and ready for my future!”

Mrs Tear, Headmistress said: “I am immensely proud of this year’s cohort: not only have they showed great resilience in the way that they have handled the challenges of recent years, they have also made the most of opportunities offered by the School and been generous in contributing to the wider life of the School community.  They have been supported every step of the way by a dedicated and skilled team; not just their teachers, but also the wider staff community at Badminton who make so much possible.  It is enormously satisfying to see our students going off to pursue a really diverse range of subjects, from Set Design to Architecture or Computing to Veterinary Science.  I know that they have the motivation and ability to success in what they choose to do and I applaud each and every student for what they have achieved at Badminton”.