The top performing state schools at A level

A levels by subject

The top school in today’s Times league table of A-level results almost closed a decade ago and was twice refused a sixth form because it was considered to be too small.

Hockerill Anglo-European College, in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, repeated last year’s table-topping performance with an even better set of results. In second place, Queen Elizabeth’s School, in Barnet, North London, was more than 70 points per pupil behind.

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Yet, in the mid-1990s, Hockerill was so undersubscribed that it was a candidate for closure. Bob Guthrie, the principal, said: “There are a lot of good schools in this area and we were weak, so we had to create a new identity. Having been denied a sixth form we knew we had to offer something different from what was available locally, and we took the international route.”

The school now has a bilingual section, which teaches history and geography in French and German, as well as entering teenagers for AS-level languages in their GCSE year.

Hockerill, one of about 30 state boarding schools, became one of the pioneers of the International Baccalaureate (IB), which the school believes is the secret of its success today.

The points tariff for university entrance gives top performers the equivalent of six A grades at A level and one at AS level. But Dr Guthrie is convinced that his pupils are not being over-rewarded. “I think it is a fair reflection of the work that goes into the IB,” he said. “It is significantly more demanding than A levels.”

Dr Guthrie is scathing about the grade inflation that he sees afflicting A levels. “It would be really nice if the human race evolved at the rate suggested by the rise in A-level grades, but we know that’s not the case,” he said. “Results in the IB have been remarkably consistent but, in my opinion, A level is getting easier.”

Politicians, schools and examination boards all had a vested interest in ensuring that the A-level success rate continued to rise, Dr Guthrie said. “While no doubt teaching is improving and students are working hard, it is inconceivable that progress has been that rapid.”

The school has found that universities welcome IB candidates, although Dr Guthrie has been disappointed by the numbers accepted by Oxford and Cambridge. Six out of 16 applicants have offers from the ancient universities this year, the highest number that Hockerill has achieved.

Several leading independent schools and a number of state schools have switched to the IB in recent years. The points awarded for the qualification are being reviewed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions System, but there has been no decision to reduce them. Sixth-formers taking the IB study six subjects as well as completing an extended essay and a course in the theory of knowledge. Maths, science and a foreign language are all compulsory in the two-year diploma. Two thirds of university admissions tutors said in a recent survey that they expected more schools and colleges to switch to the IB.

Of the schools offering A levels, Queen Elizabeth’s leads a clutch of grammar schools at the top of today’s table. Twenty of the school’s 120 A-level students are heading for Oxford or Cambridge.

The selective intakes of grammar schools invariably means they dominate tables of examination results in the state sector. Hockerill is the only comprehensive school in today’s Top Ten. Independent schools publish their A-level results next week.

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