Students and staff at Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) are celebrating another year of improvement in A-level pass rates and top grades, all of which have continued to increase faster than nationally. NewVIc’s A-level pass rate is up 1% on last year at 98% and is the highest ever for the college.

The proportion of candidates achieving the highest possible A* grade is also up and 10% of all entries achieved A or A* grades with 14 of these in Maths, 12 in Sociology, 10 in Psychology, 9 in Chemistry and 7 in Biology. Students in 22 A-level subjects achieved 100% pass rates. This improvement has been sustained by a comprehensive college despite the competition from highly selective sixth forms which cherry pick high achieving students.

Results for the A-level sized Subsidiary Diplomas taken by some A-level students were also excellent; a 99% pass rate across 149 entries with 73% of candidates achieving at least a Distinction and 48% achieving the highest possible grade of starred Distinction including a stunning 84% in Business intensive and 83% in Applied Science intensive.

NewVIc’s advanced vocational students have also excelled this year with an overall pass rate also at 98%. 75 students (18% of candidates) achieved a triple starred distinction (D*D*D*) which is the highest possible grade in the level 3 extended diploma. Half of all Extended Diploma candidates achieved at least a triple Distinction, equivalent to 3 A’s at A-level. A stunning 94% of Computer Science students and 82% of Mechanical Engineering students achieved at least a Triple Distinction. Most of NewVIc’s vocational students will progress to university, in many cases on to some of the most highly-rated specialist degree courses.

NewVIc’s university progression rates have always been very high and we are delighted that this year a record proportion of applicants will progress to the first-choice university. Just to pick two of our high achieving Honours students:

Mughees Hassan achieved A*A*A*A securing a place to study Natural Sciences at Cambridge University and Bibire Baykeens achieved A*A*A and will start her medical degree at Plymouth University. There are many more like them.

After opening her results, Bibire said: “It’s been an absolute pleasure being at NewVIc. Everyone here is on your side to help you succeed. They don’t just care about grades, they care about your future. Staff are happy to answer all your questions and ensure you know your subject as well as possible. They encourage you to aim high.”

Over the last 25 years NewVIc has helped many thousands of local young people succeed and this year’s excellent results continue our year on year improvement. This success means that many hundreds of young east Londoners will be able to realise their ambitions and progress to the university degree course of their choice. This success shows that excellence can be achieved within a comprehensive college which is there for everyone with courses at all levels.

Our students and staff have worked extremely hard for these results and their success is well deserved. As we prepare to celebrate our Silver Jubilee this year these excellent results show that we are a place of ambition, challenge and equality and truly a successful learning community.

I want to thank everyone involved in teaching and supporting the class of 2017 throughout the academic year and all the staff who worked so hard ensuring everything went smoothly on results day.

We wish our class of 2017 every success as they pursue their dreams.

Notes:

• Newham Sixth Form College (NewVIc) is one of London’s largest sixth form colleges with around 2,500 full-time students and high success rates.
• The college is proud to be comprehensive and to promote social cohesion.
• NewVIc has a 25-year track record of widening participation in higher education and has a university applicant progression rate of 90%.
• NewVIc sends more students from disadvantaged backgrounds to university than any other sixth form provider in England
• The college has strong links with schools, universities, employers and community groups and hundreds of NewVIc students volunteer in the local community.
• NewVIc has started a major campus investment programme by opening a superb new building earlier this year which houses a studio theatre, café and a modern university-style library.

See also:

The NewVIc class of 2016 (August 2017)

Newham’s outstanding record of widening participation (August 2017)

University progression for the NewVIc class of 2015 (December 2015)

NewVIc breaks all its university progression records (September 2015)

Russell group numbers soar in Newham (August 2015)