Shrewsbury Colleges Group Principal, James Staniforth has hailed the achievements and resilience of the Class of 2020 as the results for A Levels, and many vocational courses have been issued today, Thursday 13th August 2020.
Speaking as the results were revealed to the students, Mr Staniforth said: ’2020 will live long in everyone’s memory, and it has been an extraordinary year and one unlike any other in my experience of working in education. We’ve seen all our students and teachers make considerable adjustments to the way that they’ve worked, in a very short period of time. We are genuinely proud of the efforts that everyone associated with Shrewsbury Colleges Group have made in recent months, and especially those students who have completed their courses this summer.’
‘This group of students have been assessed very differently to previous years, especially those students who would normally have had to sit exams in order to achieve their final grades. The COVID-19 virus has meant that the students completing their courses this summer will have their grades awarded based on their performance in classes, assessments and assignments throughout their previous year with the college.’
‘We’ve seen notable results from this year’s A Level grades. Across the full year, we have seen more A*’s and A’s achieved compared to last year even though this year is a slightly smaller year group. We’re delighted that four of our students got 4 A*’s at A Levels with 12 students getting at least 3 A*’s. We’re also thrilled that 50 of our students got 3 As or better.’
He continued; ‘The lack of exams does not diminish the efforts that our students have made over the last two years, and our students should feel proud of the results that they are receiving today. Our students have shown great resolve and resilience during this difficult time, and they have continued with their education online throughout Lockdown with many of our students also making a significant contribution to helping their local communities. We are genuinely sorry that we haven’t been able to celebrate the end of their second year at college with our students and we wish them all the best fortune for the future and will continue to be here for them.’
‘We have been reassured that the students will get the right level of support with their results following the Government’s announcement yesterday detailing the ‘Triple Lock’ approach for the results. This means that students can have the options to accept their calculated grades, appeal to receive their mock results instead or sit autumn exams as a third option.’
Unlike in previous years, the results have not been issued at any of the three Shrewsbury Colleges Group campuses today. However, support staff are available at the English Bridge campus for A Level students with bookable ‘drop-in’ discussion sessions. Students will be able to discuss University choices, Internal progression and Higher Education at SCG as well as apprenticeships. The ‘drop-in’ sessions are available from 8.30am - 3.00pm, but do need to be booked in advance to help to maintain appropriate social distancing. The sessions can be booked by telephoning the college on 01743 235 491.