The 2016 A-level results at Queen Elizabeth’s are the best ever recorded at the School. In total, 98.8% of the 499 examinations taken were awarded grades A*-B.
The record performance means that the benchmark A*-B figure has now exceeded 98% in four of the past five years.
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “This is very good news and is a just reward for the efforts of our pupils and their teachers. The performance has really been stellar across all subjects and I am very grateful to the bright and capable staff who teach here.
“Our boys are fun to be around and enjoyable to teach. They constantly evince a hunger for intellectual argument and for knowledge; they are keen to stretch themselves. In addition, they are involved in many pursuits outside of lessons, including sport, the performing arts and other non-academic activities.”
Top State School – The Daily Telegraph, Friday 19 August 2016
Top State School – The Times, Friday 19 August 2016
A-level results 2016: results from 300 state schools, The Telegraph online, Friday 19 August 2016
Barnet pupils excel with impressive A-level results, Barnet Times, Friday 19 August 2016
The rounded nature of education at QE was also stressed by some of the many successful Year 13 boys. Harry Riley, who gained an A* and two As to secure his first choice of History at Warwick University, said: “You hear a lot about it being an academic school – and it’s true that they know what they are doing with exams – but there’s also a large amount of extra-curricular activity. It’s a very rich educational experience.” And Akshat Joshi, whose three A*s and an A secured his place to read Economics at Magdalene College, Cambridge, said: “Essentially, QE turns you into a well-rounded person, rather than just a walking textbook!”
Mr Enright added that the School placed great value on producing character in its pupils – an emphasis that is to the fore in the new 2016-2020 School Development Plan. Pupil Sahil Handa, who arrived at QE in Year 7 after a period of living in India, agrees. “The school has formed me and my character the whole way through.” He has won a place at Harvard in the US, one of two boys to gain places at Ivy League universities.
In addition, 36 boys secured offers from Oxford or Cambridge, while there were 30 places offered for degree courses in Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science.
Mathematics and Further Mathematics had the highest number of entries, with 121 and 27 respectively. No mathematicians received a grade lower than B, and in Mathematics, 57 boys – or 47% – achieved an A* grade, while 17 boys – 63% – gained this top grade in Further Mathematics. Mr Enright described these results as “simply stunning”.
This year’s headline figure of 98.8% at grades A*–B outstrips both last year’s 98.4% and the previous record of 98.5%, set in 2012.
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The Parent Power Schools Guide results provide confirmation of the very high levels we reach at QE. I am most grateful to my colleagues on the staff, the boys’ parents, our governors, alumni and the School’s wider community of friends who all contribute so much to create the scholarly and supportive environment in which our boys thrive.”
Similarly, Year 11 boys shrugged off changes including the new GCSE grading system. The 2017 GCSE results were the School’s best ever, with a record 70% of examinations taken achieving the very highest grades of A* or the equivalent 8 and 9.
“Through our carefully planned programme of academic enrichment, we seek to foster habits of intellectual curiosity and to nurture an atmosphere of scholarship that takes boys well beyond the confines of the classroom syllabus as they progress through the School. One example of this is the regula r series of academic symposia in which our boys meet up with girls from high-achieving partner schools – including our good friends at Henrietta Barnett – to discuss and debate ideas and contemporary issues.”
QE is also notable for the great emphasis placed on extra-curricular activities beyond the classroom – the School has a wide range of clubs and activities as well as many opportunities in sport, music and drama. “We strongly encourage all our boys to throw themselves into such aspects of School life,” said Mr Enright. “Our recent poetry-themed music concert and our acclaimed performances in the Shakespeare Schools Foundation’s annual festival are examples of our success in the performing arts, while our young sportsmen enjoy UK and overseas tours, as well as a competitive fixture list and inter-House competitions.
“Our aim is that the very bright boys who come here should fulfil their potential and, in so doing, that they should flourish and have fun. To that end, we have developed a strong pastoral care system which helps boys give of their best while also ensuring that we monitor their welfare carefully and that expert assistance is on hand for pupils who start to struggle for any reason.”
