Students and staff at Tavistock College are celebrating today after receiving this year’s A Level and Vocational Level 3 results, enabling students to secure places at their chosen universities, on coveted apprenticeships and selected jobs across multiple sectors and industries.

Students across Tavistock College had individual standout achievements across both academic and vocational subjects including : Alice Stoate: English Literature A*, History A, Religious studies A, Extended Project Qualification A*, Garan Carter-Woodgate: Maths A*, Physics A*, Computing A, Bridie Sears : Maths A*, Psychology A*, Chemistry A, Niall Quinn: English Literature A*, History A, Media Studies A, Abraham Reid: English Language A, Geography A, History A, Brandon Allen: BTEC Sports Diploma Distinction* Distinction*, BTEC Applied Science Distinction

George McLaughlin and Shannon Howell received straight A* grades. They said: “This has come as a bit of a surprise, we both worked really hard so it was nice that it paid off. The teaching at Tavistock College led us to believe this was possible.” 

Next month, Shannon is heading to Oxford to study Economics and Management and George to the University of Bristol to study Aerospace Engineering. Shannon’s parents said: “We’re so proud. I don’t think anyone just expects this but we’re of course relieved. We were hopeful as she’s always worked really hard throughout her school education which she’s loved and that shows. We’re grateful to Tavistock College for the support they’ve given her. It was difficult for this year group as they didn’t sit formal GCSE exams.  Their assessments then were based on mocks, so these were the first proper exams they sat."

Kayleigh Fry scored A*A*A. Her mother Heidi said: "She’s done amazingly well. She’s taking a gap year and then going to the Univsersity of Exeter to study computer science. We’re beyond proud. She’s put in so much work over the last few years. To see it pay off is fantastic.”

Brandon Allen, having studied on a voational pathway, said: "I got what I worked for in the end through hard work, a lot of late nights and support from very helpful teachers. I’m off to Leeds Beckett in September to study sport development so I’ll see where everything goes from there."

Principal Tristan Muller-Forster said:  "Today is the culmination of the hard work and dedication of our students, both they and our teachers have made outstanding progress after a seven year journey at Tavistock College.We’ve seen some fantastic results; our A-Level results this year have come out as B grade average, alongside some of the most outstanding vocational qualifications we can. Today is about ensuring that all of our young people have choice, whether progressing to university courses they want to study or go onto jobs and apprenticeships they wish to and secure lifelong employment they enjoy.

"It really is a shining example of how this school was pulled together to support our young people from a both teaching and learning focus and from a relational practice and the smiles we’ve seen on faces today relly shows what we’re all about. 

"From a subject point of view: our highest performing subject is CTEC Performing Arts, we also have A-Level History and Physics which have been fantastic this year as well as Applied Business Studies and Media Studies. Looking at these five top subjects — vocational learning pathways and more academic subjects — really shows the breadth of the cirriculum we offer here. Subjects including English Language, Psychology, Computing, Geography have really excelled this year too. These are the cohort who went through their GCSE studies with remote learning and without face-to-face teaching and only centre-assessed grades. With the backdrop of the pandemic and the fact that these students had never sat public exams before makes their results today all the more remarkable. We’re just so proud of our young people and our staff."

Tom Galli, outgoing head of Sixth Form: "I’m incredibly proud of our students and their achievements — those who have both exceeded or not quite met their expectations. They’re fantastic young people destined for good futures. This is my favourite year group and I really will miss them. Examination period pressure is immense, with our students having not experienced this for GCSE before makes the challenge even harder but these results are an absolute testiment to their drive, skills, knowledge and application." 

Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust confirmed that results across the academy have shown improvements in both academic and vocational subject areas.