Yarm School celebrates another triumphant year of A Levels

Yarm School is delighted to announce another year of outstanding A Level performance and notable individual successes. With nearly half (47%) of all grades at A* or A (more than double the North East average), for the second consecutive year 30% of students achieved three or more A*-A grades with seven students securing three or more of the very highest A* grades.

This exceptional group of students accumulated 22 A* grades, three A grades and one B grade between them: Ameen Khunda (Medicine at UCL), James Muir (Economics and Mathematics at Warwick), Jack Pritchard (Discrete Mathematics at Warwick), Harvey Qin (Economics at Oxford), Oskar Studholme (Chemistry at Bath), Isabelle Swallow (French and German at Oxford) and Gabriel Swati (Engineering at Warwick).

This year’s senior prefects, the School Officers, comprising Nila Baskar, Sophie Jewitt, Annabel Lacy, James Muir, Evie Severn, Oscar Shaw and Gabriel Swati achieved an impressive 11 A*, 12A and one B between them. These students have not only excelled academically but have also fully embraced the wide range of extra-curricular opportunities on offer at Yarm whilst representing the whole student body, leading their peers with distinction.

Alongside the traditional A level subjects, students can also complete an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) which is highly regarded by universities. At Yarm, the majority of students choose to carry out an independent project to obtain the qualification and this year 62% achieved A*/A grades.

Luke Pemberton joined Yarm Sixth Form on an academic scholarship from Nunthorpe School and achieved an A* and two A’s in Music, History and Theatre Studies alongside an A* in his EPQ. Luke – who brought so much to the musical life of the School during the Sixth Form – wrote and composed three scenes of an original musical for his EPQ project. Impressively, he has seen the production through to fruition and Luke’s full-scale production The Good of Sarajevo will be performed in Yarm’s Princess Alexandra Auditorium over two nights (26th-27th August). Luke is heading to the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester to study Popular Music, the degree focuses on composition, performance and production of music.

Economics, Finance, Business and Management continue to be popular university courses for Yarm students with nearly 20% of the cohort going to study these courses at a wide range of universities, including Oxford, Durham and UCL. A number of students have secured competitive Degree Apprenticeships at prestigious companies including PwC, EY and Deloitte.

40% of students studying Economics at Yarm achieved an A* grade, with 87% achieving A*/A grades. As well as academic success, the Economics and Business Departments at Yarm offer an extensive range of extra curricular opportunities, including Working Lunches where students hear from industry experts, the Yarm Apprentice competition where two teams go head to head on business challenges and student-led societies where students discuss and debate hot Economic and Business topics.

Dr Huw Williams, Headmaster, said: “We are immensely proud of our students’ exceptional achievements, both in the classroom and beyond. They leave Yarm ready to embrace new opportunities, embodying the School’s determination to fulfil our Mission: ‘Educating for Life.’

“Whilst we rightly celebrate these academic results today, we know that the value of a Yarm education is so much more than the grades our students leave with, and we thank our dedicated staff, supportive parents and the whole school community for helping our students thrive during their time with us. We wish our leavers every success for the future as they embark on the next stage of their journey.”