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Hereford Cathedral School students celebrated outstanding successes in this year’s A-Level results, with over 70% of all grades achieved being awarded A*-B grades and nearly half of all students securing nothing less than a B grade in their exams.
Art, which is a particular strength of the School, performed exceptionally well this year, with all candidates achieving at least an A grade. Three students, William O, current Head of School Lily M and Emily L, who joined HCS Sixth Form from Malvern St James, secured A* grades in the subject. Harriet G who was Deputy Head of School this year and international student Wendy F, who had not studied Art before joining the school two years ago, both gained an A.
The School’s Business Studies and Economics departments also achieved strong results this year, with 80% A*/A grades in Economics and 83% A*-B in Business.
One stand-out pupil, Joanna M, achieved an exceptional A* in Maths and As in both Biology and Chemistry. She will be going on to study medicine at Queen’s Belfast, following in her father’s footsteps. Joanna, whose parents are both doctors working locally in the county, said “It feels like the hard work has paid off. I got so much help from all the teachers, so it wasn’t entirely down to me. My Mum and Dad are both doctors and Dad went to Queen’s as well. I think he was more excited than I was!
“I’ve really enjoyed Sixth Form. I joined HCS in Reception and the school has just got better and better.”
Sarah B gained a clean sweep of As in her exams. Sarah will be taking up her place at Warwick University in September to study Biochemistry. She is looking forward to starting at Warwick: “I joined here in Year 9 from Moor Park. I really like it at HCS and the Sixth Form has been really good because you get one-on-one tutoring a lot, especially in French. I was expecting a B for French so I’m so happy I got an A.”
Kezia R-W, who achieved all A*/As at GCSE, has continued her success at A-Level with As in Biology and Economics and a B in Chemistry, winning a place to study veterinary medicine at the University of Nottingham. On top of her A-Level studies, Kezia had to fit voluntary work and work experience into her schedule in order to secure her university place: “I’ve done over 200 hours of work experience, volunteering at the Riding for the Disabled Centre and I’ve worked in veterinary clinics around Hereford. The school have been really supportive of me, it’s been fantastic.”
Another student celebrating today is Oscar S, who was astounded to gain A*, A and B in his subjects. Putting much of his success down to the support of his teachers, Oscar said: “I’m just so happy. I got A*AB and it’s the B in English which I’m so happy about. I’ve got a place at Bristol for Law so I’m really excited. The teachers have been the best, all of them have been so good, they can’t do enough for you, especially Mrs Wooderson and Mr Abbott.”
He added that some last-minute revision with his sister also helped: “It was all the stress revision in Pizza Express before the exam that did it! I had my Economics exam in the morning and after that we were writing down quotes on napkins. We had hundreds on the table!”
Overall, the School is impressed with its students’ achievements, with 100% grades A*-B in seven subjects. Headmaster Paul Smith said: “I am very pleased for our students, who have worked diligently to achieve excellent results and who are now able to embark on their future careers. Our Sixth Form have been ably supported by excellent tuition from highly motivated, experienced and hardworking teaching staff. It is impressive to see the results achieved by students who have also excelled outside the classroom in a wide variety of ways.”
