During his A-levels at Allestree Woodlands School, Kaiden Ramsay, 18, juggled sporting commitments—competing for England in the long jump—with academic study and supporting his mum, who suffered a stroke at the end of last year.
He achieved A*AB in PE, Psychology and Biology and will be studying Psychology at Loughborough University.
“My first choice was a sports scholarship at a university in America but my mum suffered a stroke and I’m not leaving her, so I’m doing Psychology at Loughborough instead as that allows me to continue my sport.”
Kaiden joined Allestree Woodlands School from Murray Park in Year 12 to do his A-Levels and said he developed a good group of friends and has really enjoyed the experience. While his main goal is to pursue competing in the long jump at the highest possible level, he said he is also interested in neuropsychology.
It is the best set of results the school has achieved since the pandemic, with this year’s cohort securing higher levels of achievement across the board: a 9.6% improvement in A*-A grades to 21% of grades at A or A*, and a 14% increase in A*-B grades to 45%. The school has also seen outstanding subject performances, such as in PE, where students like Kaiden have achieved almost a whole grade of additional progress above average.
Many students at the school on Blenheim Drive achieved well in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths subjects), securing places at prestigious universities and competitive apprenticeships.
Emily Simpson, 18, did four A-levels and achieved two A*s and two As in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and DT. She will go on to study General Engineering at the University of Warwick. Meanwhile, Rafa Travis, who also took four A-levels, received A*A*A*A in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Politics. He received an offer from Durham University but was also waiting to hear whether he’d been successful in gaining a place at Cambridge University, which hadn’t made all its offers on results morning.
Rafa said: “I’m not sure I’d advise people to do four A-levels—it was very tough. I needed Maths, Further Maths and Physics but I really did Politics as a hobby. It was good and I had fun and enjoyed all my A-levels, but it was challenging.”
He will now study Maths at either Durham or Cambridge.
Also doing well in STEM subjects was Will Smart. He earned AAB in Physics, Maths and Computer Science and will be doing a Nuclear Engineering apprenticeship with Frazer-Nash.
Will said: “It was a very tough process, and I found out quite late that I’d got a place—in July—so until then I thought I may be going to university instead, and I had a backup plan. But I was so pleased when I got the call to say I had my degree apprenticeship.”
Also doing an apprenticeship is Rachel Shreeve, 18, who secured an A* in English Language, an A in Geography and a B in Business, as well as an A in her EPQ. She will be doing a degree apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce in Business within the company’s nuclear facility. Places for Rolls-Royce apprenticeships are fiercely competitive—even more so than places at Oxbridge—and there were 33,000 applicants across all their apprenticeship programmes this year.
Rachel said: “I did some work experience in their financial facility and at the end I did a presentation, and the Vice President of Finance said I should apply for an apprenticeship with them, so I did. I did that during my mock exams. I didn’t have much confidence as it was a real step from what I was used to, but I like to embrace the challenge and change. I also moved from my last school to Allestree Woodlands to do my A-Levels and Business was new for me, so I do like to push myself.”
Both Rachel and Will will complete the study aspect of their degree apprenticeships with the University of Derby.
Also doing an apprenticeship is Seb Beadle, 18, who got A*A*A in Biology, Chemistry and History, and is studying a degree apprenticeship in Chemical Science with Lubrizol at their Hazelwood site.
Like his fellow students, Seb said the process was very competitive.
“There were four rounds and an initial application. I had to do video interviews and online tests as well as an assessment centre. I applied in December and found out I was successful in April, and the grades they needed were lower than my predicted grades, so it did help put me in a good place going into the exams. I wanted to go to university and get a degree, and I think in science that is essential, but I wanted to progress that while working and earning.”
Another Chemistry student, Reuben Whitby, will be studying Biochemistry at the University of Nottingham after receiving ABB in Maths, Chemistry and Biology. He is hoping to do a postgraduate degree in medicine afterwards.
Headteacher Gemma Penny said she was delighted with the results this year and proud that the students’ hard work had paid off.
“What I am really pleased about is that we can see the continuation of an improving picture. The grades are up and this is the best set of results since 2019. I think one of the biggest indicators of how the students have done is that almost everyone has secured the place they wanted, which is a massive success.
“I think we are seeing some return to normality now after Covid. One thing for teaching staff in schools is that there is more clarity and stability around grade boundaries and assessment frameworks, which allows them to understand where the students are and where they need support.
“As a school, we have had a massive focus on raising standards in Post-16, and it feels like the work to develop the curriculum and improve the quality of our assessment has paid off. I’m proud of everyone’s hard work.”
Also proud of their results in the humanities were Kona Moller, who received AAB in English, History and Geography and will study English and History at Leeds, while Zoe Mann received AAAA in English Literature, History, Politics and her EPQ and will study History and Politics at York University.
