Celebrating a stellar set of A level and GCSEs results in 2023

In August 2023, St Helen’s celebrated students’ success at A level. With 73% of all grades being A* or A, we were thrilled to see students perform brilliantly in such a range of subjects and the exciting next steps to which their results lead. Particularly impressive grades were gained in maths, history, geography, drama and politics, as well as the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) which, once again, enjoyed stellar success – and continues to be recognised favourably by Higher Education institutions. 

Headmistress Rebecca Dougall said: “It has been a great morning of celebration, and we are all so proud of the students who have done brilliantly in what have been their first public exams. We always say that there is no typical HelKat: our job is to support students to identify and develop their own strengths, so we are happily celebrating with students today who are off to study subjects as varied as Classics, Medicine, Politics and International Relations, Economics, Law, Music, Maths, Drama and Fashion Design Innovation. The universities they are joining are fortunate to be working with such a talented cohort of students.” 

We are encouraged to see our students bucking the national trend in their success in modern languages A levels and in choosing to study them at university. STEM remains very strong with students headed to Cambridge to read Natural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, and Medicine remains popular and successful with five students gaining places at medical school.  

One week later, there was much to celebrate with GCSE results day. An impressive 32% of all grades awarded were 9s and 21 students collected their envelopes to discover that they had achieved ten or more 9–8 grades – an outstanding achievement. With results exceeding the expectations broadcast about this year’s examination performance, overall, 61% of all grades were at 9–8 and 82% were 9–7. 

These students will be the first cohort to start their A levels in the brand new Sixth Form Centre, the Benedict Building. The new building echoes the very best in higher education institutions, smoothing the transition from school to university.