18 August 2022
Thursday 25th August 2022
Congratulations to Year 13 on their wonderful results after two challenging years!
We are very proud of the excellent A Level results achieved by students at Durham Johnston in 2022. Like all students nationally, those studying at Durham Johnston have faced a challenging two years. Our Year 13 students had their GCSE exams cancelled at the last moment in 2020 and spent a significant part of Year 12 studying online and having to isolate at certain points after testing positive for Covid-19 or being a close contact of someone who had. Those circumstances should not be glossed over, as students have experienced circumstances that are unique. They have proven themselves to be conscientious and resilient. Those circumstances have affected their teachers and wider families too. Educational success is based upon gathering momentum and having an adequate amount of time for trial and error. The current cohort have been denied both, making their success today even more worthy of celebration. If you are an adult reading this, think back to your own experience of examinations and consider how straightforward it probably was by comparison.
2022 marks yet another year of excellent academic and personal achievements for the school’s 6th form students and underlines their hard work and determination. It also highlights the support of their families and the commitment and dedication of their teachers. We are very proud of the fantastic results that students have achieved, particularly given the national context outlined above. They have coped with the exams, but also with significant disruption and constant background noise. They have done wonderfully well and have earned the right to celebrate.
We are incredibly pleased to see so many of our students achieving their expected places at a wide range of universities. Students have secured university places across the breadth of the United Kingdom, from St. Andrews to Exeter. They will be starting courses in Cardiff, Edinburgh and London; at Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Oxford and Warwick. A large number will study locally, at Durham, Newcastle, York and Leeds. Others will continue their studies in the United States and Germany. They are studying a huge range of subjects, from Adult Nursing to Theoretical Physics (there is no Zoology this year!) Several students will be starting degree apprenticeships, continuing a recent pattern where students have started apprenticeships in supply chain management, civil engineering, and primary education. The longstanding pattern of students successfully applying for early entry courses at Cambridge, Oxford and to study Medicine continues, with 10% of the year group achieving places to study at those universities or on that course. Including this year’s successful candidates, 121 students from Durham Johnston have gained places at Oxbridge since 2012. Their achievement is worthy of credit, but no more or less important than any student. We work very hard to ensure that all students are aspirational and are well advised so that they are successful and happy with their choices.
To put the year group’s success in context, 24% of awarded grades were at A*. 52% of grades were either A* or A and, overall, 77% of all grades were A*, A or B. A staggering 35% of students, 67 individuals in total, achieved three or more A* or A grades. Regardless of grade, however, all of our students have done tremendously well. Of equal importance, these results have been achieved as a consequence of the positive relationships that they have developed with school staff and because of the support offered at home.
Our core values relate to academic excellence for all, the need for students to acquire knowledge, the need to contribute to society and preparation for future employment, wherever in the world that might be. We also strongly believe that all students should have those opportunities, regardless of background. Our students have risen to the extremely challenging circumstances set before them, and we wish them all the best as they begin the next stage of their education, training or employment. Their results are outstanding, and we are immensely proud of their achievements. Whilst they are leaving us for their next steps, we will continue to offer support as Durham Johnston will always be their school. Congratulations Year 13 – it has been a pleasure to have you represent the school.
Andrew O’Sullivan
Headteacher