Tonbridge Upper Sixth show ‘character and commitment’ as they achieve outstanding A-level results

Tonbridge’s students have put in an outstanding performance in their A-levels. In results made public today, Thursday 18 August, half of all grades awarded to the Upper Sixth cohort (50 per cent) are at A*, or Pre-U equivalent.

More than 85 per cent of all grades awarded today are A or A*, while nearly all grades (98 per cent) achieved by Tonbridge students are either A*, A or B.

In addition, 107 boys achieved a ‘clean sweep’ of A*/A grades at A-level.

The Upper Sixth leavers are the first Tonbridge cohort to have completed the School’s new Sixth Form Curriculum. This was launched in 2020, inspired by the skills which The World Economic Forum identified as having the greatest value in today’s workplace including complex problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity.

The Sixth Form Curriculum gives students the opportunity to develop high-level specialism in their A-level studies whilst also sustaining breadth through options such as the Extended Project Qualification and additional language courses.

James Priory, the School’s Headmaster, offered his congratulations to those who are now moving on to ‘Life after Tonbridge’. Mr Priory said: “All at the School are extremely proud of the character and commitment students have shown throughout their Sixth Form studies. The boys have worked incredibly hard, often in challenging circumstances, and have succeeded in making a first-class contribution to the intellectual and co-curricular life of the School.

“We are excited to see what they will now go on to achieve in the next stage of their lives at university and beyond.”

As well as emerging with a tremendous set of A-level results, the very large majority of Tonbridge’s leavers have secured their first-choice university destination. They are now heading to leading universities across the world, including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) this autumn (see our ‘Upper Sixth Leavers’ profiles, available via the link.)

In the UK, many are heading to prestigious, high-tariff universities including Durham, Edinburgh, St Andrews, Bristol, Exeter, University College London (UCL), Warwick, Nottingham, Leeds, London School of Economics (LSE) and King’s College London.

There has been greater success with US applications than ever before: in addition to Harvard and MIT, students are going to Berkley, Northeastern and Dartmouth, with those who are US-bound gaining a total of five highly sought-after scholarships. Three pupils are going to university in Canada, two to study in Hong Kong, one to Australia and one to Austria.

While degree courses for Tonbridge leavers such as Politics, Philosophy, History, Business, Geography, Engineering, Languages and Economics continue to prove popular, degrees with a particular career focus are also proving attractive. Alongside the more traditional choices of Law and Medicine, boys will be embarking on degrees in Arabic and Business, Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science, Economic and Global Stability, Architecture, Computer Science and Innovation, and Earth Sciences.

There is growing popularity among Tonbridge leavers for spending either a year in industry or a year abroad, as part of their degree courses, which will equip them further with the skills needed in the modern workplace.

* ‘Tonbridge Portraits’: Some of our Upper Sixth leavers reflect on the past five years and also look forward to the next stage in their lives.

Pictured above: Upper Sixth students celebrate at the School on A-level results day.