Jessica Puplett (20), is Uxbridge College's highest A level achiever in 2012 with four A* grades.Students and staff at Uxbridge College were celebrating a boost in higher grades in this year’s A level results, as well as expecting the College’s excellent record of students getting university places to continue.There were also a number of individual success stories, with several students
Jessica Puplett (20), is Uxbridge College's highest A level achiever in 2012 with four A* grades.Students and staff at Uxbridge College were celebrating a boost in higher grades in this year’s A level results, as well as expecting the College’s excellent record of students getting university places to continue.
There were also a number of individual success stories, with several students who had progressed from taking their GCSEs at Uxbridge College to A level doing extremely well.
Facts and figures for A levels (A2) for Uxbridge College, in Park Road, Uxbridge, 2012 include:
* 98% pass rate at grades A*-E
* Increase in A*-C grades of 5% since 2011, now at 75%
* More grades at A*-B – 43% compared to 39% in 2011.
University applications were also looking positive, with figures expected to follow the trend from 2011 of Uxbridge College doing better than average across West London colleges.
Among the individual success stories were:
* Top performing A level student Jessica Puplett (20), who has achieved four A* grades. Jessica took her GCSEs at Uxbridge College before progressing to A levels and achieved A* in sociology, ICT, English literature, and government & politics. Jessica said: “I’m really overwhelmed I don’t know what to think – I have done better than I expected. When I came to Uxbridge College three years ago, never in a million years did I imagine I would get this far. I didn’t really realise my potential to start off with, but now I have so much more confidence in my academic ability and feel prepared for university.” She has a place at the University of Bristol to study English.
* Four members of the same family who have taken A levels at the same time. The Siddiques - Tuba (26), Sheela (25), Abdul Wasi (24), and Shahla (19) - came to the UK from Pakistan, where they had made their home after fleeing war-torn Afghanistan. Abdul Wasi and Shahla are among the top three A level achievers this year at Uxbridge College, and Abdul Wasi will be going to Imperial College to study Medicine. Shahla was second from top with an A* in psychology and As in biology, chemistry and maths, and Abdul Wasi third with A grades in maths, biology and chemistry and a B in Physics. Shahla plans to take a year out then go to university, and Sheela and Tuba both hope to go to university this year.
* Nikunj Sondagar (19), who gained an unconditional university place to read dentistry at the University of Debercen in Hungary, after taking two A levels at Uxbridge College in one year. He got A grades in biology and physics.
* Emre Dincer (20), who taught himself English by watching subtitled episodes of the American cartoon Futurama over and over again. The best maths student in his class, he also traded help learning English for academic tuition. Emre, who came to the UK from Turkey to study in 2009, had to learn English alongside his studies. He achieved A grades in maths and further maths, and a B in physics.
Dr Darrell DeSouza, Vice Principal for Curriculum and Standards at Uxbridge College, said:
“As tough competition for university places continues, Uxbridge College students are placed in an excellent position by the number of top grades achieved.
“There are so many reasons to congratulate our students, be it because they’ve won the university place they wanted, or are simply celebrating a personal triumph because they never thought they could do so well.
“We are expecting our excellent record of students progressing to university to continue, particularly after UCAS figures showed we were ahead of college averages across West London last year. A higher proportion of our students also went to the prestigious Russell Group universities than the West London College average.
“I would also like to acknowledge students who have pursued other courses which can also lead on to degrees such as BTEC National Diplomas and the prestigious Advanced Diploma (in Engineering and Business), both of which are equivalent to up to three A levels. And university study is not the only way forward – thousands of students here are doing work-related courses including apprenticeships and NVQs and achieving professional success through this route. Many of our students have demonstrated excellent progression, often starting at a foundation level and moving up to a high level.
“Yet again these results pay tribute to the hard work of staff and students, and to the quality of the teaching, support and facilities at Uxbridge College. The fact a number of our staff work as A level examiners for papers sat at other institutions not only reflects on their capability, but this expertise and experience provides an invaluable benefit to our students.”