The development of character and resilience are outcomes which typify a Bennett education. Sixth form students at Bennett Memorial Diocesan School have shown this more than ever this year to finish their Sixth Form courses and achieve an impressive set of A levels in the face of the disruption caused by Covid-19. Bennett students, faced by the uncertainty of how their qualifications would be awarded, continued to work with exceptional commitment right through lockdown to the point in May when their examinations were scheduled to have begun. The results which they have achieved in the face of this adversity have now opened wide the doors to some of the most sought-after university courses as well as other exciting destinations.

Headteacher Jon Sparke commented: “We are so proud of all our students.  They have done something extraordinary; they have completed their secondary education in the face of a global pandemic which has created a context of widespread uncertainty.”

“Our results this year compare very strongly to the excellent track record that the school has established in sixth form achievement, albeit they were arrived at in a way that was very different to usual. It should be remembered that what matters most is the strong foundation of knowledge, understanding and character, that all of our students have built up over seven years of schooling, and which they take with them into their next stages of study and personal development.”

There were very many examples of outstanding individual achievement which include two students, Jemima Kinley, Yasmin Malik who are taking up places at the University of Oxford and Joseph Sparke going on to study at the University of Cambridge. Ella Stanbury’s stellar work in the three natural sciences along with mathematics means that she is off to study biomedical engineering at Imperial College London, where she holds one of the coveted President’s Scholarships. Bennett students also achieved success in gaining access to highly competitive apprenticeships, for example Finlay Sawyer joining BP’s degree level apprenticeship in software engineering and Grace Knight, who is joining a degree level apprenticeship in the Civil Service.     

As the school expected from this high performing cohort, we saw a high proportion of students achieving strings of straight A grades, for example Adam Gent with top-notch outcomes in chemistry, mathematics and physics. Bennett’s traditional high value curriculum means that students have accessed further study in an exciting and diverse range of fields, including: Sophie Boakes who is set to study law at Kings College London; Harriet Chudley reading for a degree in engineering at Bristol; Jade Webber whose outstanding diploma results have given access to a degree in primary education and Oliver Tomkinson who is off to study psychology at Durham University. 

Mr Sparke explained: “This is a very resilient group of students whose approach to the challenges of this year has been genuinely admirable. You only have to look at the super numbers who have completing the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award whilst still at school, despite the foreshortened year, to see their grit. Every single one of these results has been achieved in the face of some significant adversity, with students remaining committed to their studies in order to finish their courses as the country went into lockdown. We wish all our Bennett students completing their sixth form this year every success for the next stage of their education.”