2024 Exam Celebrations at Shiplake College

Speaking of Shiplake’s Class of 2024 Sixth Form results Headmaster Tyrone Howe says, “They’ve smashed it!”. And they absolutely have – the Class of 2024 achieved a phenomenal set of results, far exceeding that of 2023 and the 2019 pre-COVID benchmark. The percentage of A*-C grades has risen from 88% (2023) to 97%, and at A*-B from 62% to 72%. The percentage of top A*-A grades has also increased from 32% to 39%.

Mr Howe comments: “We are absolutely delighted with the performance of our pupils. It was great to see so many of our leavers back to celebrate with each other and with their teachers. These are the best academic results in the College’s history, outside the two years of COVID. We are a school of personal bests, we have achieved that, and I cannot ask for any more. Our pupils are leaving with smiles on their faces and this is testimony to the hard work they have put in. It can only happen with dedicated, professional, and top-quality staff and I would like to say a personal thank you to all the teachers who work incredibly hard. I am very proud of everyone who has contributed to today’s successes.

“We had high hopes for this year group and the value-added results (which take into account where each pupil started from and the progress they make relative to other similar students nationally) reflect this, with the average score of an extra 0.34 on each grade across all subjects (pupils who joined us in Year 7 achieved an average of +0.48). 86% of exam results were A-level subjects, with the vocational subjects of business, music and sport performing strongly. Other standout subjects include Art, DT, Geography, Photography, PE, Media Studies and the Sciences.

“The average UCAS score gives the equivalent of BBB and most students have gained a place at their chosen university. As ever our leavers are going to a wide range of universities, particularly popular destinations being Exeter, York, Nottingham Trent and Cardiff. Four of our rowers are also heading to the USA, Harvard, Boston, Iowa and Washington. In addition to business and sport-related degrees, subjects include engineering, computer science, economics, criminology, politics, real estate, marketing and architecture.

At GCSE, Shiplake College celebrated the highest ever % of top GCSE grades (excluding the 2021 COVID results), with 17% of 9-8 grades, an increase from 14% in 2023. The percentage of 9-7 grades also rose from 33% to 34%. Overall, the results were significantly higher than the pre-COVID results of 2019, with 93% of grades marked 9-4 and 58% of grades 9-6 (88% and 42% respectively in 2019).

Headmaster, Tyrone Howe, comments “It has been another successful morning for all members of the Shiplake College community and there was a celebratory atmosphere in Marjorie’s Café. Speaking to lots of pupils and parents, there are countless examples of them being delighted with specific subject results, because they worked particularly hard for that exam. Central to this is the engagement and commitment from the Shiplake teachers who play a crucial role in achieving such positive outcomes. For all, the theme is if you work hard, you receive the results you deserve and give yourself a real chance of achieving your own personal best.

“A high proportion of grades 9-7 were achieved in Triple Science, English Literature, History, Further Maths and Computing. A really pleasing number of pupils received grades 9-6 or 9-7 grades across the board.

“We have the highest number of students joining us in Sixth Form this year and we’re now focused on hitting the ground running right from the very first day of Lower Sixth to make sure the same high standards are in place.”