‘The pursuit of academic excellence’: Tonbridge receives a Crystal Award for top exam performances

Tonbridge has received a national award in recognition of its boys’ outstanding results in the most recent A-level and GCSE examinations.

Education Advisers Ltd, the consultancy which runs the ‘Best Schools’ website and produces annual league tables analysing the UK’s independent sector, names Tonbridge as a ‘Top Three UK Independent Boys’ Boarding School by A-level’.

It also includes the School in its ‘Top Ten Boarding Schools’ based on GCSE performance.

Education Advisers presented one of its exclusive ‘Crystal Award’ trophies to Tonbridge’s Headmaster, James Priory, on Wednesday (28 February), to celebrate what it called “a magnificent achievement”.

Mary Banks-Murayama, Managing Director, added: “The exceptionally high percentage of top grades achieved by Tonbridge students places the school in the top three boys’ boarding schools nationally, a testament to the commitment and high standards which are hallmarks of this remarkable school.

“Our award recognises the extraordinary dedication of your whole school community to the pursuit of academic excellence.”

In last year’s A-levels, 43 per cent of all grades awarded to Tonbridge’s Upper Sixth cohort were at the very highest grade of A*. In total, 80 per cent of all grades awarded were A* or A, while nearly all grades (97 per cent) achieved by Tonbridge students were either A*, A or B.

In addition, 96 boys achieved nothing lower than A*/A grades at A-level, with 29 boys making the ‘clean sweep’ of an A* in all their subjects.

Tonbridge boys achieved an excellent set of GCSE and IGCSE results in 2023, making it a record year for the School. A total of 48 per cent of grades were at 9, the highest possible grade, and more than three quarters (77 per cent) were at 9 and 8 (with both grades the equivalent of A*).

94 per cent of grades were at 9, 8 or 7, which is the equivalent of gaining either an A* or A, with 104 boys (two thirds of the Third Year cohort) achieving exclusively 9-7 grades (ie, all their GCSEs equivalent to A*/As). A total of 31 boys achieved nine or more grade 9s.

Above and below: James Priory receives a Crystal Award, on behalf of Tonbridge School, from Education Advisers’ Mary Banks-Murayama. They are pictured in the Barton Science Centre.