A-level Results Day 2018: Swanlea gets 100pc pass rate including 81pc high grades
Swanley Secondary in Whitechapel gets 100pc pass rate in this year's A-levels. Picture: Mike Brooke - Credit: Mike Brooke
All the students taking A-levels at Whitechapel’s Swanlea Secondary have passed.
Swanley head teacher Brenda Landers... "They had to take exams at the end instead of modues, so we changed how we taught." Picture: Mike Brooke - Credit: Mike Brooke
The school got a 100 per cent overall pass rate, beating last year’s rate in the 90s.
Today’s results included 81 per cent pupils getting A* to C grades, despite a change in the A-level system which now puts the emphasis back on final exams rather than course work.
“It’s a move from modular to final exams,” Swanlea’s head teacher Brenda Landers told the East London Advertiser.
“The big change is that they’re having to take exams at the end of Year 13 instead of Year 12—so we’ve had to change the way we teach.
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“Very few courses have course work—it’s about final exams. Being nervous at exam time has always been an issue.”
Four pupils also got an extra surprise when they opened their white envelopes with their results.
Three of Swanley's four bursary winners for 2018... Mohammed Hussain, Syeda Pasha and Hamza Rashid. Picture: Zara Islam - Credit: Zara Islam
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They had notes confirming they had won bursaries to go to university after getting high grades.
The annual Swanlea Sixth Form Governors Bursary started in 2017 is awarded to three Year-13 pupils who have met their target grades.
But an extra fourth student was included this year because of improved overall standards.
“We understand the high cost of a university degree can be a financial burden on students and their families,” the head teacher added. “So the governors created the Swanlea bursary.”
The bursaries worth £7,500 for a three-year university course went to Syeda Pasha, Hamza Rashid, Mohammed Hussain and Barwaqo Jama who got their grades and had also achieved 94 per cent and above in attendance and punctuality.
Syeda is going on to the London School of Economics to study Government and Politics. Hamza goes to Queen Mary University while Mohammed is off to Goldsmiths, both studying computer science. Barwaqo goes to the School of Oriental and African Studies for economics.
