A summer of exceptional exam results at Rydal Penrhos has received high praise from the school’s Chair of Governors.

There was plenty to celebrate at Rydal Penrhos despite the difficult circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the high-quality teaching received by pupils during the lockdown period ensured some historically high examination results.

These achievements were recognised by Julian Barnes, Chair of the school Governors and a former Rydal School pupil himself was “delighted” with the strong performance of Year 11 and Year 13 pupils, who received outstanding guidance and support from commitment teaching staff that go above and beyond the call of duty on a daily basis.

He said; “We are of course delighted at all aspects of results. Not just the headline results, in terms of absolute grades in both A Level and GCSE, but also with the fundamental measure of ‘value-added’.

“This may be a new concept to many of you but it represents the key measurement of the degree of improvement in pupils’ attainment added by the school. Few schools nationally will have achieved such a high performance.

“We will continue to build on these excellent achievements and the educational progress promised in February is already very much in evidence.”

The Upper Sixth Form managed to attain a 51.9 per cent pass rate at A*-A at A Level, which is the highest in the school’s history since the introduction of the A* grade and represents an increase of 30.5 per cent year on year, with 75.9% achieving A*-B grades.

Those awarded A*-C grades were 90.5 per cent, which is another record and a significant rise of 30.1% from the previous year’s results.

The number of A* grades awarded at GCSE was 49.2 per cent, and 66.7 per cent of grades were A*-A.

A*-B grades were recorded at 87.1 per cent, with pupils achieving A*-A or 9-7 grades standing at 62.1 per cent – which is significantly higher than the national averages of Wales (25.9%) and England (27.5%).

In terms of value-added, Rydal Penrhos attained a score of 0.5. This means for every ten subjects taken, five of them came out with higher grades than forecast.

The value-added number for GCSE was even better, with the school achieving a score of 0.83 following a monumental effort in trying times from pupils and staff alike.

This academic excellence, coupled with a diverse extra-curricular programme, university preparations and leadership opportunities, make Rydal Penrhos the perfect place for a pupil to achieve success, learn new skills and become fully prepared for the next stage of their journey.