Plume Academy students head to school to pick up A Level results

Students at Plume Academy in Maldon, attended the school this morning to pick up their results.

Top performing students at the academy include, Molly Lacey who secured an A* in Psychology, an A* in the Extended Project Qualification, an A in English Literature and a B in Chemistry.

George Hendry who secured an A* in Maths, an A in Chemistry, an A in Physics, an A in History and an A grade at AS in Further Maths.

Isabel Emmett who received an A in Chemistry, an A in Maths, a B in Biology and an A grade at AS in Further Maths and Beth Evans who secured an A in Biology, an A in Psychology, a B in Chemistry and a C in English Language.

Carl Wakefield, Principal of Plume Academy said, “First of all, it was absolutely fantastic to see so many of our College students after not doing so since March and as expected, they conducted themselves in their usual dignified, mature, sensible and articulate manner.

"This was especially impressive in light of the unprecedented period that saw their right to actually finish their respective courses and sit their examinations withdrawn, plus the recent events in Scotland and the 11th hour ‘triple lock’ debacle.

"I am immensely proud of not only this fantastic cohort of students, but also our tremendous team of staff who have also worked so hard and in collaboration with them throughout their post 16 journey.

"They too are a credit to themselves as are our students’ families who throughout both the course as well as the lockdown period have been nothing but positive and supportive and for this, I thank them sincerely."

Over 50 per cent of grades in Art and Design, Photography, Chemistry, Philosoph, Physical Education, Spanish and BTEC S were A*-B.

25 per cent of grades in seven other subjects were also graded at A*-A.

George Hendry, 18 said: "I got into my first choice uni but I expected to get an A* in physics so I’m a bit annoyed about that, but overall I'm happy.

"I'm going to St Andrews in Scotland to study Physics.

"I think I would have liked to have exams, because when I'm working in an exam I am quite confident in my ability.

"I chose St Andrews because it is the best in the country for my subject. Head girl, Darcie Plume, 17 said: "I did better than I thought I was going to, but I am going to take a year out and then find my feet and what I want to do.

"Lockdown and not having exams was a bit strange because we couldn't say bye to everyone and have a send off.

"But out friendship group has been close since year seven and we still speak and have seen each other recently.

"We always knew the teachers were there for us throughout lockdown if we needed them but we couldn't ask them anything about going back to school or anything because they didn't know anymore than we did."

Some other schools in the district refused to publish their results due to the nature of how they were released. 

Deputy Headteacher at Thurstable School in Tiptree, John Lee said: “I have been immensely impressed by the resilience and strength shown by all of our students this year. 

"This has been an incredibly difficult time for all students as it has not been possible for them to take their exams this summer – and they were working incredibly hard to get themselves ready for them when the nation went into lockdown.

"The school went through a meticulous process of making teacher predictions, which is the basis of results this year, and students should be in the position to make the next steps that they want to for next year."