26 March 2020
Mrs Bodil Chambers, Head of Higher Education & Careers
Recent events have cast uncertainty over A Levels and university admissions, but our Upper Sixth students have received a hugely successful set of offers from leading UK universities, which we hope will take them to their first choice of university.
Four Woldingham students – Sarah A, Ediss J, Catherine S and Tracy Y - received offers to study theology, architecture, English and economics at the University of Cambridge. This is a great achievement when competition for Oxbridge places is stronger than ever.
Warmest congratulations are due to Charlotte A, whose athletics prowess gained her a prestigious sports scholarship to the University of Birmingham, where she plans to study biomedical science.
Exeter, Leeds, Nottingham, Edinburgh and Durham were the five most popular universities applied for this year, each chosen as one of their five UCAS choices by more than a quarter of our students. At several elite universities, including Warwick, Nottingham, Birmingham and Bath, our students have had a 100% offer rate, with a rate above 85% for most others. The average offer rate from Russell Group universities is more than 75%. This figure is likely to increase given several students are still awaiting decisions, particularly from Durham, LSE and Edinburgh (universities with a track record for making decisions late in the cycle). Two students have two or more offers to study medicine, and one student has offers for veterinary medicine – all very competitive courses.
Woldingham is not just focused on Russell Group universities. We work with each student to find the ideal next step. Many students who could have taken offers at Russell Group universities are preferring contemporary courses, such as fashion design and marketing, at other institutions.
To their huge credit, Woldingham students are very discerning in their choice of course and university, investing time in researching their options to find the path that is right for them. For some, the path is drama, art or music and a small number of students will be taking up places at art and drama colleges, and conservatoires. This includes Amina W who, we have just heard, is to study music at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Several students are waiting for news from applications to universities in the US, Canada, Ireland and Hong Kong, some of them among the world’s most prestigious institutions.
We await further details from Ofqual on how A Level grades are to be awarded this year, but we wish our wonderful Upper Sixth students a very bright future.