Whitburn Academy C of E students and staff celebrate A Level results day

Staff and students talk about this year's A Level results.

Transcript

00:00 [Background noise]

00:18 Okay then Lee, just some headline figures from this year's results and how you feel about it?

00:23 Okay, so the results this year are broadly in line with the 2019 figures.

00:27 We've got some fantastic successes, particularly with our students who've had additional needs.

00:32 This is a cohort who've had unprecedented disruption, losing teaching time during their year 10 and year 11,

00:39 not actually sitting their GCSE exams.

00:41 So to perform as well as they have is an incredible testament to their hard work and their dedication.

00:47 They've done incredibly well and we're very proud of them all.

00:50 Now exam boards were instructed to bring attainment levels in line with pre-pandemic levels.

00:55 You've said that's roughly what you've experienced this year, but how do you feel about that instruction on exam boards?

01:01 I think in many ways it is harsh.

01:03 They're a year group who've had, as I said, disruption to their GCSE studies,

01:07 studying from home during year 10 and year 11, not sitting external exams in the hall during their GCSE years.

01:14 So to have to do that for the first time this year with very little leniency,

01:18 there's a worry about how employers will view that and whether in future,

01:22 when these students go to apply for jobs, whether employers will understand that they had that disruption

01:28 and their grades don't reflect that leniency that previous years had.

01:34 Because obviously, whether it's university, some people will take a gap year, some people may go to university later.

01:39 People are probably not too dissimilar in age, they're going to be competing possibly with the same professions.

01:43 Do you think that does put this year group at a disadvantage, not just for your school, but for schools across the country?

01:49 That is the worry, that is the worry that employers may not quite understand the context behind their grades.

01:55 But they have performed very well, they have got on the whole the grades they wanted to.

02:00 We have 90% progressing to the course they wanted to go to.

02:06 So destinations-wise, they have done very well. We are very proud of them all.

02:12 Okay then, Roberts, how do you do then?

02:14 I've got an A*, A.A.

02:16 Is that better than you expected, around what you're expecting?

02:18 It's about what I expected, yes.

02:20 So what's your plans now?

02:21 I want to go to the University of Leeds to do chemistry.

02:23 Are you looking forward to it?

02:24 Yes, of course.