PADDINGTON ACADEMY STUDENTS CELEBRATE BRILLIANT A LEVEL RESULTS

Student secures place at Cambridge, plus a range of further Russell Group successes

Staff and students at Paddington Academy are today celebrating very high A Level results, continuing a trend of consistently high achievement for the last eight years.

Today’s overall results saw results match the high benchmark set last year at the school:

·      32% of A Level grades were awarded the highest marks of A* or A;

·      66% of A Level grades were awarded A*-B;

·      90% of A Level grades were awarded A*-C.

·      Ten students gained at least 3+ A grades at A Level (7% of the cohort)

These results mean that students at the academy will take up increasingly competitive university places, with more accepting places at prestigious Russell Group universities than ever before.

Among the individuals celebrating today was one student who secured a place at Cambridge:

Ali Taghdisi-Rad, who obtained 3 A*s in Maths, Economics and Italian and 2 As in History and Physics and will take up a place at Fitzwilliam College at Cambridge to read Law. Ali’s achievement is remarkable as he has only been in the UK for four years.

Ali will be the Academy’s seventh student in recent years to accept an Oxbridge place.

Other top performers at Paddington Academy included:

Amir Pajaziti, who achieved 2 A*s and 2 As and will study Mechanical Engineering at Imperial; 

Mohammed Abou-Khachab, who achieved 3 A* grades and will study History, Politics and Economics at University College London (UCL); 

Enkhjin Togtokhbayar, who achieved 1 A* grade and 2 As and will study Medical Science and Engineering at University College, London (UCL);

Others in the Sixth Form were celebrating excellent results in vocational qualifications. 92% of all BTEC entries, which include Applied Science and Business, were Distinction or Distinction*. This represents the Academy’s highest performance ever in these qualifications. Some particular successes included:

Zeynab Al-Qurayshi who achieved three Distinction* grades in her Applied Science BTEC National course and will study Civil Engineering at University College, London (UCL);

The Paddington Academy Sixth Form has grown significantly over the last five years and this year’s cohort contained 135 students. There has been a steady increase in the number of A Level entries, with the school maintaining high grade standards in terms of outcomes for students.

Mohammed Abou-Khachab, who gained 3A* and secured his place at UCL, said: “This is by far the best day in my life. It’s been an unbelievable experience over these 7 years and the hard work has definitely paid off. It wasn’t an easy journey at all but in the end it was definitely worth it.  Thanks for the incredible journey, PA has been amazing!”

Enkhjin Togtokhbayar, who is going to study Medical Science at UCL, said: “All the wait has been worth it and I’m extremely pleased with my results and place at UCL.  I want to thank my teachers and my parents, without whom I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

Offering all the students his congratulations, Peter Jones, Principal at Paddington Academy, said:

“Everyone in the academy can take immense pride in these results today, which are the culmination of years of hard work and dedication from our students and staff alike. The level of challenge in A Level qualifications has increased in the last few years, but our students have risen to this magnificently.

While all our students deserve credit for their achievements, we are particularly pleased for Ali with his Cambridge offer. His success demonstrates that our students can continue to compete with the best students from any school in the country.

Each year we are increasing the number of our students that go on to higher performing universities. Most are the first in their families to go to university, so it is incredibly important that we help ensure they have the same opportunities to access top institutions as anyone else.

Finally, I would like to thank our staff for the excellent work they do in encouraging our Sixth Formers to reach their potential, and repeating this so consistently, year on year. Nobody forgets a good teacher, and their skill, enthusiasm and commitment has a huge impact on the exam results and life chances of our students.”