Viewing archives for School performance

Well over three out of every four GCSEs sat at QE this summer achieved the top grade – a new School record. Of the 1,817 examinations taken, 78% were awarded A* or 8–9 (the numerical equivalent of A* for the new-style GCSEs).

The total represents a 6.9% leap from last year’s 71.1%, which was itself a QE record.

After last year’s national introduction of new-style English and Mathematics GCSEs marked on a 9–1 scale, 2018 saw the reforms extended to many more subjects: all but three of the 19 GCSEs offered at QE this year followed the new format.

QE’s results demonstrate strong academic achievement across the board, with 92.2% of examinations given an A* or A (9–7) grade and 100% of the 180 Year 11 boys gaining the Government’s benchmark of at least five GCSEs including English and Mathematics at grades A*–C (9–4). In Mathematics, 76% of boys gained the highest-possible result, a grade 9 – equivalent to an upper-end A*.

In total there were 970 grade 9s achieved by the boys, averaging over five per student.

There were also many outstanding individual performances: 15 boys (some 8% of candidates) gained straight grade 9s in all their new-style GCSEs, while a quarter of QE’s boys recorded all 9s and 8s (A* equivalent).

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My warmest congratulations go to all our boys on breaking through the 75% threshold with a truly remarkable set of results. This Year 11 was a happy year group who were great to teach; we are looking forward to welcoming them into the Sixth Form. Their results are the reward for many months of consistent hard work both on their part and on that of their teachers, who have adapted their teaching splendidly in response to the changes.”

“The introduction of a new grade 9 has provided our very able boys with a harder, more ambitious target to aim at – and they have relished this additional challenge.”

Analysis of QE’s results for the new-style GCSEs reveals some remarkable figures for individual subjects. For example, 100% of Latin candidates gained a grade 9. For Mathematics, it was the second year of the new qualification. Last year, 71% of boys achieved the highest-possible score, grade 9, but this year the total has risen still further, to 76%.

The GCSE results add to the celebratory atmosphere at QE that followed last week’s announcement of A-level results that included a record number of A* grades.

Highlights of this year’s GCSE results include:

• 78% of all examinations taken were awarded A* or 8–9
• 92.2% of examinations were given A* or A (9–7)
• 970 grade 9s were awarded in the reformed courses
• 15 boys achieved a clean sweep of 9s
• 100% of Latin candidates achieved grade 9
• 76% of boys gaining grade 9 in Mathematics, which was taken by all 180 boys
• 100% of pupils achieved the Government’s measure of five A*-C passes (or equivalents) for five GCSEs, including English and Mathematics.

Sixth-formers at QE achieved the School’s highest-ever total of the very top A-level grade – crowning an unbroken 13-year record of performance at the highest level.

Of the 482 A-levels taken, 46.9% were awarded A* – easily outstripping the previous record of 42.2% set in 2015.

Further analysis of QE’s results reveals that there is strength in depth, too: this is the 13th consecutive year in which the benchmark figure for the proportion of examinations awarded A*–B grades has topped 95%. The 2018 figure of 97.3% improves further on last year’s 96.0%.

Twenty-eight leavers have received offers from Oxford and Cambridge this year, while over the previous five years 144 boys from QE won Oxbridge places. The overwhelming majority of QE boys – more than 90% in 2017 – secure places at Russell Group universities, while a small but growing number have headed to Ivy League colleges in the US.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “Our boys have exceeded even our own expectations and I am absolutely delighted by these results, especially given the national context.

“To put our boys’ achievement in perspective, it is frequently noted that when major changes to examination systems are introduced, there is typically a dip in performance. This is often explained by the fact that teachers cannot use previous teaching materials and that there are no past papers for pupils to use in their preparation.

“The fact that there has been no such dip at QE – in fact, quite the contrary – is testament both to the boys’ exceptional efforts and to the dedication of our staff in preparing teaching and learning materials of the very highest order to make sure that the pupils did not lose out, despite their being ‘guinea pigs’ for the new system.

“There has also been speculation in the press that the introduction of these changes – which involve much greater emphasis on performance in examinations, rather than in coursework – would result in boys doing well at the top end. That has certainly been the case here.”

Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, recently told the Times Educational Supplement that this year’s significant increase in the number of unconditional offers from universities could damp down top A-level pass rates.

Mr Enright explained why there had been no such effect at QE. “Our advice to the boys – which has indeed been the approach they have taken – has been that they should go for their optimal university place and not be swayed by any unconditional offers they may have received.

“We have urged on them the importance of understanding that their A-level results reflect their ability and hard work over the seven years they are at the School. They are also aware of the evidence concerning the most prestigious graduate jobs – that A-level outcomes are one of the first things that future employers will look at when considering applicants. In short, we believe that A-level performance remains absolutely critical.”

The Headmaster also welcomed recent indications that Ofsted will be placing a greater focus on the overall educational experience provided by schools, with a concomitant reduction of emphasis purely on examination results.

“At QE, although we regularly appear at or near the top of examination-based league tables, we emphatically do not want either Ofsted or the families of prospective pupils to judge the School by A-level or GCSE grades alone. The very strong results of our boys at A-level should be seen as a by-product of the whole QE experience, rather than the sole purpose of an education here.

“That experience includes, of course, high-quality opportunities in fields such as sport, music and drama. But also important is the spirit of scholarship that prevails at QE – the electric atmosphere generated by the presence of so many bright and ambitious people, both boys and their teachers, all working to cultivate habits of independent learning and deep academic curiosity.”

QE’s Year 13 pupils sat A-levels in 16 subjects this year, including a full range of the sciences and humanities. The most popular were Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Economics – taken by 116, 58, 48 and 46 boys respectively – while this year saw increases in the numbers taking French and German A-levels.

The School’s Year 12 boys also performed strongly at AS-level: the proportion of top grades (A) was up from 75.3% in 2017 to 79.7%, while the A-B figure also rose, from 91.5% to 92.8%.

Queen Elizabeth’s School has been listed as the country’s top boys’ grammar in a new Daily Telegraph league table based on GCSE results and the progress made by pupils since primary school.

The listing of academically selective schools – in which QE was placed third overall – is based on educational data and examination results from 2017.

In her report on the table’s top ten schools, journalist Sophie Inge wrote of QE that it is “consistently placed at or near the very top of the national league tables”, adding that “far from being an ‘exam factory’, it encourages pupils to follow their passions”. She also noted that all sixth-formers are required to carry out voluntary service.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I am very pleased to see the achievements of our boys and their teachers recognised in this table.

“It is sometimes claimed that grammar schools’ apparent academic successes are illusory because they achieve them by merely ‘creaming off’ the brightest children and then relying on their innate ability. For QE, this table gives the lie to that accusation, demonstrating that our boys are successfully stretched and challenged to fulfil their potential.”

The grammar school table combined two measures of pupil performance.

Firstly, it took into account the percentage achieving five or more GCSEs graded A*–C (or 9–4, under the new marking system). All of the top ten schools achieved 100% by this measure.

Secondly, the newspaper looked at the Department for Education’s Progress 8 measure, which records the progress made by children between the end of primary school and their GCSE results. Recently updated to take account of the new-style GCSEs, Progress 8 is often described as a measure of the ‘value added’ by schools.

QE achieved a Progress 8 score of 1.16, placing it narrowly behind The Tiffin Girls’ School in Kingston upon Thames and Upton Court Grammar School, a co-educational school in Slough, and ahead of Nonsuch High School for Girls in Sutton. There were no other north London schools besides QE in the top ten.

Queen Elizabeth’s School has been named the best boys’ school in the country in a guide which aims to give a more complete picture than league tables based only on examinations.

The Real Schools Guide seeks to give parents a good idea of which schools will help their child prosper, regardless of their background. It uses a wide range of measures including GCSE results, but also: pupil-teacher ratios; the proportion of leavers going into further or higher education and jobs, and the Government’s Progress 8 measure, which quantifies the progress children make between the end of primary school and their GCSE results.

Overall, QE came third in the guide’s 2018 list of top schools, which is headed by Wembley High Technology College, Brent, with Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School in Blackburn, Lancashire, in second place. The rest of the top ten is dominated by grammar schools in the South East, including Wilson’s School in Sutton and The Tiffin Girls’ School, Kingston upon Thames.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “While our School always appears at or near the top of national league tables based purely on examination results, I am very pleased to see QE faring equally well in this guide based on a more holistic look at what schools do. As a selective school, we naturally have a very bright intake of pupils, but, as the Real Schools Guide shows, we then effectively challenge and stretch those boys so that they make the most of their potential.”

“It is interesting to note the prevalence of our fellow grammar schools in the top ten,” Mr Enright added.

Compiled by researchers from the data unit of Reach plc (the newspaper group formerly known as Trinity Mirror), the guide is based on a rating system using some 50 different measures, put together from the latest publicly available data and broken into four categories; attainment, progress, attendance, and outcomes.

Now in its sixth year, the Real Schools Guide has been praised by ministers and education experts alike. Former Schools Minister David Laws called it “public-service journalism in the best tradition”.

QE’s high-achieving pupils should be ready to “take up the challenge of [the] considerable and fundamental long-term challenges that we face as a society”, Headmaster Neil Enright urged at the 2018 Senior Awards Ceremony.

Parents and award-winners joined dignitaries, staff and friends of the School for the foremost awards event of the academic year, during which almost 150 prizes were presented to boys from Years 10–13 in the School Hall. The Guest of Honour was Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford.

Speaking to the award-winners, the Headmaster listed issues such as climate change, inter-generational fairness, protecting the rule of law and the rights of citizens in an age of digital and social media; the risks and opportunities arising from automation and artificial intelligence and the need to reshape public services to respond to demographic pressures. Distinguished visiting speakers, including Old Elizabethans, had addressed these and other issues over the course of the past year.

“But the answers are far from settled and there are big debates to come,” the Headmaster added. “We want you to be equipped and emboldened to actively participate in these discussions; to make your contribution to wider society, when you are ready, as leaders of your generation.”

The evening, which is sponsored by QE’s Foundation Trustees, featured contributions from some of the School’s leading senior musicians, including pieces by Bach, Brahms and Shostakovich.

The dignitaries included the Mayor of the Borough of Barnet, Councillor Brian Salinger, and the Mayoress Kate Salinger.

In addition to the comprehensive range of prizes for academic subjects, there were also many awards for boys who have excelled in extra-curricular fields such as sports, chess, the Combined Cadet Force and drama, as well as for those who have given outstanding commitment and service to the School and to society.

In his address, the Headmaster alluded to the diversity of backgrounds among QE pupils, stating that this, and their ability, placed them in a strong position to lead, if allied with the free-thinking scholarship and skills of articulation and oracy that the School seeks to nurture.

For her part, Professor Richardson told her own inspiring story of growing up in a large Irish Catholic family, where, as a girl, the expectation was that she would either become a nun or get married and be a good wife. She became the first in her family not only to go to university but even to finish school. In her choice of institution, she again broke the mould choosing the (largely) protestant Trinity College Dublin over the predominantly Catholic University College Dublin.

She opted for Trinity because it was the more renowned university, and she encouraged boys to aim for the most highly regarded institution that was within their academic scope – adding that the place was often more important that the course in terms of future prospects and opportunities.

At Trinity, she studied History, against the wishes of her mother who would have rather she had read Law. She advised boys to study what interests them, what they love and enjoy, because “work will then not feel like work”. She had been advised by her boss in the late 1990s to give up on researching about terrorism – it was “too niche”, he advised. Then, following the events of September 11, 2001, suddenly everyone was interested in her work and in the field. She was fortunate that what she loved researching was what people wanted to know about, but she would still have been happy even if it had not gained such widespread attention as an issue, she told the audience.

She explained to the boys that they need not have everything planned out – she would never have imagined being a university vice-chancellor, least of all at somewhere like the University of Oxford.

She spoke of the value of education and the amazing opportunities that it provides, encouraging the boys to learn about other people, how they think about things, and to try to see things from their perspective. Homing in on the awards evening, she encouraged boys to see the evening from their parents’ perspective and appreciate what a proud and important occasion it was for them too.  She added: “I work in education because I am an optimist; and I am an optimist because I work in education.”

The Mayor spoke of his pride both in the education on offer in Barnet and at the diversity of the borough’s population, one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse places in the country. He reminded boys to enjoy their time at school and the opportunities it afforded them. Cllr Salinger announced that the completion of his mayoral year in May would be the end of his 36 years as a councillor.

In his vote of thanks, School Captain Aashish Khimasia, of Year 12, said that Professor Richardson’s achievements provided a “very obvious template” for maintaining high aspirations and for making a contribution to society, and he likened this to the inspiration provided by the School staff, echoing the sentiments of the Headmaster’s speech. “…We are encouraged to understand and not be threatened by the problems in our society, facing up to them in the futures that we envisage, be that as doctor, lawyer, engineer, teacher or in any of the great careers in front of us,” he said. “What is truly important is not just to excel at a career, but to use it to make a difference to the people and the world around you.”

Director of Music Cheryl Horne directed a 13-strong ensemble who began and ended the formal part of the evening with a Processional and a Recessional of her own composition. In addition, the ceremony was punctuated by musical interludes performed by boys from the senior years. Year 10’s Joshua Wong and Reza Sair performed Largo ma non tanto from J S Bach’s Double Violin Concerto in D Minor. From Year 11, clarinettist Bhiramah Rammanohar played the Allegro amabile from Brahm’s Sonata in E flat. Year 13’s Joshua Wong and Tai Oyama, of Year 11, gave their rendition of Shostakovich’s Prelude for Two Cellos after the presentation of the Sixth Form awards.

All guests were invited by the Headmaster to enjoy refreshments together in the Shearly Hall after the ceremony.

Boys at Queen Elizabeth’s School once again performed very strongly at A-level, with the proportion of  A*-B grades awarded reaching 96%.

There were only a handful of C grades among the 471 A-levels taken this year and no pupil received any grade lower than a C. Almost all the Year 13 leavers will go on to take up places at leading universities.

The results further cement QE’s reputation established over the past 20 years as one of the best-performing academic schools in the country, whether in the state or independent sector.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “I congratulate our boys on another excellent performance – 96% at A*-B grades is an impressive achievement by any standards. Among this year’s leavers, a near-record 37 boys have received offers of places at Oxford or Cambridge.

“I am particularly pleased at how consistent our A-level results are at a time when, as many national commentators have pointed out, there is considerable turbulence in the area of public examinations. I should add that 96% represents the position before any re-marks are requested: these typically result in a net increase in the total figure.”

Top State School – The Daily Telegraph, Friday 15 August 2014

Top State School – The Times, Friday 15 August 2014

Ofqual, the examinations watchdog, recently told pupils nationally to expect ‘particularly volatile’ A-level and GCSE results. The major change for A-level candidates this year is that the qualification is now linear; for the first time, there were no modules in January.

The Russell Group of leading universities has stated recently that too many state school pupils are not encouraged to take A-levels in ‘facilitating subjects’ – traditional academic subjects such as sciences and languages. Such subjects improve pupils’ entry chances to top universities.

“It is important to note that QE boys predominantly take facilitating subjects at A-level, rather than other subjects seen by some as softer options,” Mr Enright added.

There has also been concern that it is becoming harder for pupils from state schools to gain access to leading universities. A recent commission set up by the Sutton Trust, an education charity, to examine the impact of higher fees reported that young people from wealthy backgrounds are around 10 times more likely to get into such universities than those from poorer homes, with boys from disadvantaged backgrounds especially unlikely to obtain a university place.

“At QE we are very proud that we operate entirely as a meritocracy and thus contribute to social mobility,” said Mr Enright. “Our students come from very diverse social and ethnic backgrounds, but they have this in common: they know that they can go as far in their studies here as their abilities will take them.

“Furthermore, Queen Elizabeth’s School is no ‘exam factory’: our teachers and support staff all work to inspire a love of learning in the boys, rather than merely training them to pass examinations. Our academic success is due to the deep-seated interest in their studies that many boys evince and, of course, to a great deal of hard work and application on their part.

“We strongly encourage all our boys to broaden their horizons by engaging in School activities outside the classroom: indeed, many of our highest achievers are also heavily involved in sport, the performing arts or in other QE clubs and societies.”

The total of 37 Oxbridge offers represents a 28% rise on last year. The offers cover subjects ranging from Architecture to Philosophy and include Medicine, Law, Mathematics, PPE and Engineering.

The A-level results are in line with the School’s expectations based on this cohort’s AS results last year.

Mr Enright said: “I was also very encouraged to note that our AS-level results for our Lower Sixth are significantly up on last year. In fact, the 95.2% figure for A-B grades equals our best-ever AS results, in 2011.”

Abolition of AS-levels is among a number of further reforms planned by the Government, but opposed by Labour. Cambridge University, supported by Oxford, has emphasised the importance of AS results in helping it to reach the right decisions in offering places to Sixth-Formers.

“In my view, AS-levels are very useful in guiding our boys and their teachers, helping them to make wise choices in their university applications,” Mr Enright stated.

A-level results 2014: results from 400 state schools, The Telegraph, Thursday 14 August 2014

Students across Barnet in high spirits after A-level results, The Barnet Times, Thursday 14 August 2014

More than six out of every ten GCSEs taken at QE have been awarded the A* grade – for the third year in a row.

In total, 98% of GCSEs in 2014 received grades A*-B, while 90% were at either A* (61%) or A (29%). All 176 Year 11 pupils achieved the Government benchmark of five A*-C passes including English and Mathematics, and 99% achieved either A* or A in Maths.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “My congratulations go to the boys and their teachers on a truly excellent set of results, consistent with the pattern established here in recent years.

“Our 2013 results set new records, but this year’s figures are perhaps equally impressive. They were achieved in the face of significant changes in national GCSE arrangements. Furthermore, this year for the first time all our boys took the IGCSE in Mathematics and Geography – a decision we took because this qualification provides greater academic rigour.”

Earlier this summer, Ofqual’s Chief Executive, Glenys Stacey, wrote to all secondary schools and colleges warning of ‘more variability’ in results in 2014 compared with previous years, following sweeping reforms.

Top Boys’ State School – The Times, Friday 22 August 2014

The main changes included eliminating modules, so that all GCSEs were sat at the end of the two-year course, and the removal of a mark for speaking and listening in English GCSEs, following reports that some teachers nationally were over-marking.

A third national change was the announcement that only pupils’ first attempt at GCSEs would be counted in league tables, thus discouraging schools from entering candidates early or repeatedly. Mr Enright said this particular change did not affect QE, since it has never entered pupils early for GCSEs.

Tony Little, Head Master of Eton, this month warned against ‘measuring only the easily measurable, such as exam results’ and he reiterated his previous criticisms of the country’s ‘Victorian’ examination system. Mr Enright said: “I certainly concur with his emphasis on the need for schools to develop character and resilience in young people, instead of focusing solely on examinations.

“That emphasis is reflected in our own mission statement to ‘produce young men who are confident, able and responsible’. It is what lies behind our expectation that all our boys should take part in extra-curricular activities – whether that’s performing in the Big Band, playing cricket, joining the Chess Club or turning out with our Combined Cadet Force – and it is why all pupils in Year 12 undertake voluntary service.”

The Governmnent’s English Baccalaureate (EBac) performance measure was achieved by 99% of boys. The Ebac was introduced by the Department for Education in 2010 and is given to pupils who attain GCSEs or IGCSEs at grades A*-C across a core of academic subjects – English, Mathematics, History or Geography, the sciences and a language.

As well as Mathematics, there were also especially strong performances at QE in Biology (97 candidates, achieving 96 A*s and 1A) and Physics (97 candidates, 93 A*s and 4As).

With the School having now switched to Mathematics, Geography and Sciences IGCSEs, boys starting their GCSE courses next month will also follow the IGCSE syllabus for Languages.

A remarkable 98.4% of A-levels taken at Queen Elizabeth’s School in 2015 were graded A*-B. The figure represents QE’s second-best performance ever and means that the widely recognised A*-B benchmark figure for the School has topped 98% for three of the last four years.

Almost four out of every ten A-levels taken at QE this year (39.6%) gained the very highest A* grade, compared to 36.7% last year, while 84.9% received A* or A grades (82.4% in 2014).

Congratulating the 142 Year 13 leavers, Headmaster Neil Enright said: “These superb results are a testament to the strength of character of our boys. For achievement at the very highest level, natural intelligence on its own is not enough; qualities such as grit, resilience and self-control are essential, too. These boys have been a joy to teach because they have those attributes.

“I would like to thank my inspirational colleagues for helping the pupils to cultivate such qualities; the achievement of these outstanding examination results should be seen as a by-product of that process of character development. The contribution of our teachers in gently guiding boys to discover where their academic and wider interests lie through encouraging them to take part in extra-curricular opportunities at the School must also be recognised.”

Top State School – The Daily Telegraph, Friday 14 August 2015

Top State School – The Times, Friday 14 August 2015

Triumph for boys who thrive on competition – The Times, Friday 14 August 2015

The extra-curricular opportunities include not only clubs and societies, but also the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), which has been for a number of years a popular option among many QE pupils. New figures released this month show that a record number of sixth-formers nationally are thought to have taken the dissertation-based qualification this year in pursuit of university places.

Among the large number of individual success stories at QE is former School Captain, Adam Hilsenrath, who gained an A* for his EPQ project on the impact of Emperor Constantine on Roman Christianity.

Adam will be taking up a place to read History at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, this autumn, having gained A* grades in English, Maths and Politics, and an A in History. Adam has shown great character by carving out the time to play the piano, get involved in School debating and play rugby, as well as chairing the School’s Jewish Society, writing online for the Jewish Chronicle and, since 2009, running a weekly children’s service at Elstree’s Ohr Yisrael Synagogue.

Milan Kundra earned straight A*s in his four subjects, Biology, Chemistry, German and Mathematics, which not only meets the requirements for a place at Imperial College London to read Chemistry but also means he will receive Imperial’s President’s Scholarship. “The scholarship gives me £3,000 in the first year and also means I become an Ambassador for Imperial,” he says.

Milan chose to complete his EPQ on limb regeneration in urodeles (an animal grouping that includes salamanders) – a “crazy” topic that fascinates him, not least because it is so little understood. “I have always wondered why we as humans cannot regrow limbs, so studying the animals that can is really interesting.”

Looking back on his time at QE, Milan said he found it “extremely rewarding, but challenging”. He certainly threw himself into School life, taking part in clubs for badminton, science, engineering, languages and table tennis, to name just a few.

Analysis of the A-level results reveals that:

• • This year’s results are the School’s second best-ever, beaten only by the fractionally higher 98.5% of A*-B grades achieved in 2012

• • The 98.4% of A-levels gaining A* or B grades in 2015 is up 2.4% from last year’s 96%

• • There were 490 A-level entries this year, compared to 471 last year

• • Mathematics was the most popular subject, with 125 boys taking this subject, followed by Chemistry, which was taken by 73 boys.

A-level results 2015: results from 400 state schools, The Telegraph Online, Monday 17 August 2015

Wait is over for A-level students at QE boys who are heading to Oxford and Cambridge, Barnet Times, Thursday 13 August 2015

Harrow students kick off the celebrations as first round of results flood in, Harrow Times, Thursday 13 August 2015

Almost seven out of every ten GCSEs sat at QE were awarded the top A* grade, with 99.3% of examinations at the school graded A*-B.

The results are QE’s best-ever performance at GCSE. They follow last week’s excellent A-level results, which saw it ranked as the country’s top school in league tables published by The Times and Daily Telegraph.

“This has proved to be a vintage summer for our school and I congratulate both boys and their teachers on their success,” said Headmaster Neil Enright.

“Although QE is a competitive academic environment, it is emphatically not an ‘exam factory’. We strongly encourage our boys to take advantage of the abundant extra-curricular opportunities we offer so that they explore their interests both academically and in areas such as sport and the arts.

“We also place a high value on helping boys develop character attributes such as self-control, empathy and optimism, laying early the foundation for success in later life.”

The 1,201 A* grades at the school represent 67.8% of the total – 4.5% up on 2014 and the fourth consecutive year in which the proportion has topped 60%. More than a fifth of boys achieved straight A*s across their GCSEs.

All 179 boys in Year 11 achieved at least five GCSEs at grades A*-C. In total, 99.4% of QE boys achieved the Government’s benchmark English Baccalaureate (Ebacc) measure, which requires a grade C or above in English, Mathematics, History or Geography, Science and a foreign language. In June, the Government announced that all pupils starting Year 7 this year will have to take the Ebacc subjects when they reach their GCSEs in 2020.

Amid strong performances by all the departments, the results for Mathematics, the sciences and Geography were truly exceptional:

• • Mathematics was taken by all boys and passed at A* by 170 of them, or 95%

• • A high proportion of QE boys take three individual sciences. For both Biology and Physics, 98.3%, or 117 pupils, achieved A*, while 96.6% of Chemistry GCSEs (115 boys) were graded A*

• • Eighty-two of the 99 geographers, or 83%, achieved the top starred grade.

Teenagers celebrate GCSE success across Barnet, Barnet Times, Thursday 20 Augus 2015

Top Boys’ State School – The Times, Friday 21 August 2015

Top Boys’ State School for % A*-A – The Daily Telegraph, Friday 21 August 2015

The 2016 A-level results at Queen Elizabeth’s are the best ever recorded at the School. In total, 98.8% of the 499 examinations taken were awarded grades A*-B.

The record performance means that the benchmark A*-B figure has now exceeded 98% in four of the past five years.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “This is very good news and is a just reward for the efforts of our pupils and their teachers. The performance has really been stellar across all subjects and I am very grateful to the bright and capable staff who teach here.

“Our boys are fun to be around and enjoyable to teach. They constantly evince a hunger for intellectual argument and for knowledge; they are keen to stretch themselves. In addition, they are involved in many pursuits outside of lessons, including sport, the performing arts and other non-academic activities.”

Top State School – The Daily Telegraph, Friday 19 August 2016

Top State School – The Times, Friday 19 August 2016

A-level results 2016: results from 300 state schools, The Telegraph online, Friday 19 August 2016

Barnet pupils excel with impressive A-level results, Barnet Times, Friday 19 August 2016

The rounded nature of education at QE was also stressed by some of the many successful Year 13 boys. Harry Riley, who gained an A* and two As to secure his first choice of History at Warwick University, said: “You hear a lot about it being an academic school – and it’s true that they know what they are doing with exams – but there’s also a large amount of extra-curricular activity. It’s a very rich educational experience.” And Akshat Joshi, whose three A*s and an A secured his place to read Economics at Magdalene College, Cambridge, said: “Essentially, QE turns you into a well-rounded person, rather than just a walking textbook!”

Mr Enright added that the School placed great value on producing character in its pupils – an emphasis that is to the fore in the new 2016-2020 School Development Plan. Pupil Sahil Handa, who arrived at QE in Year 7 after a period of living in India, agrees. “The school has formed me and my character the whole way through.” He has won a place at Harvard in the US, one of two boys to gain places at Ivy League universities.

In addition, 36 boys secured offers from Oxford or Cambridge, while there were 30 places offered for degree courses in Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Science.

Mathematics and Further Mathematics had the highest number of entries, with 121 and 27 respectively.  No mathematicians received a grade lower than B, and in Mathematics, 57 boys – or 47% – achieved an A* grade, while 17 boys – 63% – gained this top grade in Further Mathematics. Mr Enright described these results as “simply stunning”.

This year’s headline figure of 98.8% at grades A*–B outstrips both last year’s 98.4% and the previous record of 98.5%, set in 2012.