exam results

[johnny2007]

London state school sending 85 pupils to Oxbridge in record A-level results day

More than half of the school's pupils qualify for free school meals.

metro.co.uk

Please note the principal's name.
Possibly a down to business individual, focused on education, instead of a snowflake wasting educational time to indoctrinate children to the modern nonsense.
This happens in East Ham, a shythole where I wouldn't walk alone at night.

 

[charliegolf]

It's a superpower. The extent to which you can suck positivity out of anything.

 

[johnny2007]

What

It's a superpower. The extent to which you can suck positivity out of anything.

What's more positive than great results brought in by focusing on education rather than snowflakes arguments?

 

[Justin Passing]

Oh, as an aside, and as a 'well-done-ish' to me, may I mention that (age 65 and 3/4), I got a C grade at AS Maths on Thursday! Thank you in advance for the rapturous applause. No, really, I did.

What sort of institution did you take that in?
Was it one where they let you work in the kitchen if you're good?

 

[charliegolf]

View attachment 277263
What sort of institution did you take that in?
Was it one where they let you work in the kitchen if you're good?

Similar. Thanks for doing the home video.

 

[Justin Passing]

London state school sending 85 pupils to Oxbridge in record A-level results day

More than half of the school's pupils qualify for free school meals.

metro.co.uk

Please note the principal's name.
Possibly a down to business individual, focused on education, instead of a snowflake wasting educational time to indoctrinate children to the modern nonsense.
This happens in East Ham, a shythole where I wouldn't walk alone at night.

That's a monster school, more impressive is that 90% got A/A* grades (at least one I assume).
It's a selective school but even so, it puts many to shame.
If you can get an A* in a subject you like, then you're bright enough to do any work you like.

The state selective school I went to usually got about 45% of the sixth form to Oxbridge.

 

[johnny2007]

That's a monster school, more impressive is that 90% got A/A* grades (at least one I assume).
It's a selective school but even so, it puts many to shame.
If you can get an A* in a subject you like, then you're bright enough to do any work you like.

The state selective school I went to usually got about 45% of the sixth form to Oxbridge.

Was there any place left at Oxbridge???

 

[charliegolf]

The state selective school I went to usually got about 45% of the sixth form to Oxbridge.

The sixth form is selective. You have to have the equivalent of As in all the subjects you want to study; and A is clearly not enough for oversubscribed subjects. This isn't Grange Hill.

 

[Justin Passing]

The sixth form is selective. You have to have the equivalent of As in all the subjects you want to study; and A is clearly not enough for oversubscribed subjects. This isn't Grange Hill.

Not quite sure what you mean...
A* A* A today may not get you in, - you mean? Yes.

They didn't have A* in my day! You just had to have A's, 3 or better.

 

[charliegolf]

What I mean is, notwithstanding the school being in 'a shytehole' area (according to Jonny), suggesting deprivation, you have to have great GCSE grades to enter the sixth form. GCSE is graded 9 down to 1. Seven is equivalent to the previous A grade. In this school, you have to have a minimum 7 (an A) in each subject you want to study in lower sixth. But then, they go on to say that 7s might not cut it depending on the applications they get. So you start lower sixth with the cream of the GCSE crop from the surrounding area. Sound like yer average inner city comp?

 

[Justin Passing]

No it's not yer aicc.
It is selective as a whole, I think I read. Not sure that can be right as it's so big, around 2800.
It's about like the Grammar school I went to, in that you had to have minimum 5 'O' levels grade 3 or above to get to do A's.
NOT comparable in that it has 80% with English as a second language - blimey.
Biggest school in Newham:
"

• Newham is an east London borough, and one of the country’s poorest areas.
• It is in the worst four boroughs of inequality, homelessness, unemployment and in-work poverty.
• However, it is in the top 16 boroughs for its quality of education.
• It is one of the most multicultural places in the UK – a total of 147 languages are spoken across the borough

"
It would be interesting to hear what's special about that school. Whatever's in the school custard, is working. Quite a lot of immigrants - you know, those ones who work harder.
It must have good staff - self fulfilling I guess.
The school metrics on behaviour, attendance and progress 8 are very good.

 

[charliegolf]

Justin, I read the admission policy, and broadly, like all schools these days, it translates as, 'Any one can apply to come here.'

That's meaningless though, because then you get to the salient bit. 'If we have too many applications, this is how we choose'

Category 1: Looked after children. I can tell you as a former head, that this is criterion number 1 on every admission policy in the land. Fair enough.
Category 2 : GCSE results.

That means that a kid from Eton, whose Mummy has run out of cash at GCSE can apply; and if he/she has 12 nines at GCSE, they're in. Bit drama queen there, but it's not just the old fashioned 'catchment area' of old here. Category 2 might just as well read, 'We only take the brightest'. So the brightest kids in Newham get hoovered up.

That goes a long way in explaining your musing, 'It would be interesting etc...'

 

[Justin Passing]

Again - not really sure what you're about. Yes I know all that, it's selective. (The only query was whether is selected at year ,er 7. It's not, but that doesn't affect A levels.)
The country's full of selective schools, Brampton is top of the pile, bar almost none. They got 92 in this year. So what's special about this one??

It's not boarding so most are going to come from underprivileged Newham, aren't they? Nowhere near Eton's catchment.

The entrance requirements are at a similar level to those many 6th FC's ask for, but being more oversubscribed they would become highest, wouldn't they!?
I didn't find any which prioritise proximity over grades. Brightest win.
Many of the others are oversubscribed.

Comparisons with other best colleges are interesting.
Most, eg Brighton are in lower population density locations so you'd expect less demand .
Where the density is high enough, eg Winstanley Manchester which is very good, Brompton Manor beats it.
Hills Road Cambridge is, well, in Cambridge, and sets itself up to get kids into the Uni. It's marginally more successful in percentage terms I think (didn't find all numbers). Full of boffins' kids I daresay.
Even the oversubscribed London Academy of Excellence, which is in Newham, isn't as successful as Brampton by a good margin.

It's self perpetuating that if you do the best then you attract the best and so on, but that applies to all.
Brampton's recipe does seem to be exceptional.

 

[ellal]

Year after year? Not possible.

Sorry, I should have said 'Not if everyone takes the same exam each year, not ones from different exam boards', although I thought that would be obvious!

Not under your system - they'd be absolute if you give them 7.2 or whatever.

See the above reply

Kids work harder, so standards have gone up. Look at some past papers. The papers got easier for a while (eg they took maths out of science) but at some point several years ago they started getting much harder. There's a lot more in them now than there was in my day. I didn't work very hard at all.....

What evidence do you have that kids work harder?

And exams have simply changed. For example it's a lot easier/quicker to use a calculator than logarithm tables so there is indeed a lot more in, but more quality?

Then of course there is the internet and computer aided tools...

If you really think standards have gone up then you obviously haven't a clue about the basic mental arithmetic and spelling skills of your average student!

What, by prospective employers?? No way. They just want a meaningful grade.

You've just contradicted yourself...

Employers in the UK have long complained about grades not being meaningful given the changing of grade boundaries...

Too many were getting an 'A' so the A* was introduced, then the same thing happened.

Meaningful? How so?

Which, how, and how do you know?

A keen interest in education and a lot of research, given family members have studied abroad.

 

[charliegolf]

The entrance requirements are at a similar level to those many 6th FC's ask for,

Justin, I have never heard of a state sixth form requiring As at GCSE as a minimum for entry. Have you? Winstanley College has way lower minima.