A Level Results Day 2023: All the results and celebration photos from across Sheffield

As students across the UK collect their A-level results, we have asked our readers what memories they have of this day.

Read more here: https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/opinion/sheffield-star-readers-take-a-look-back-at-memories-of-collecting-their-a-levels-results-4258633

Students at Eckington Sixth Form say they have bucked the national trend today with huge improvements over their comparable A-Level results in 2019.

Eckington Sixth Form’s 'class of 2023' include a 100 per cent A-level pass rate. 67.4% of all results achieved grades between A*-C. 10.4% of the grades awarded were A* or A.

The school says this year’s Year 13 students – for whom this was the first experience of external exams, following the cancellation of their GCSE exams in 2021 – "should be particularly proud of their results, which are testament to their resilience and hard work."

Eckington students now head off to a wide range of destinations across the country including universities from Leeds and Sheffield to Manchester and Lincoln.  They will be studying subjects such as maths and physics, psychology, quantity surveying, modern languages, screen writing, primary education and architectural engineering.

Headteacher Richard Cronin said: “I am enormously proud of our Year 13 students. The excellent results of these young people demonstrate that education really does offer a passport to the future, as they now go on to access a wide variety of future education and career paths.

 “We will miss this group of students, who have had such a positive impact on the school, but their hard work and determination will serve as inspiration to future generations of Eckington Sixth Formers.  We wish them the very best of luck in their chosen next steps and look forward to hearing of their successes in the future.”

Longley Park Sixth Form Academy is celebrating their A Level and Vocational results today after almost 240 pupils scored the highest grades of A*/A  and Distinction*/Distinction. 

Outstanding outcomes for students have been achieved on courses such as Applied Science with 82 per cent of students achieving high grades and Applied Law with 94 per cent of students accessing the highest grades. They are also boasting great results in Art, 3D Design, Photography and Early Years Educator Childcare.

255 students now plan to go onto university, with others securing competitive apprenticeships and employment opportunities. 

Success stories include Natasha and Florence achieving triple distinctions in Level 3 Applied Science, and are now moving on to Russell Group universities to study Chemistry and Adult Nursing.  

Aaliyah studied A Levels in Law, English Literature, Criminology and the EPQ, and is progressing to Sheffield Hallam University to study Law.  

Yosef started at the Sixth Form studying Level 1 Art and Media and successfully progressed through Level 2 and Level 3 to achieve Distinction in Games Design through the University of the Arts London. He will now be studying Computer Games Design at University.

Jamie Davies, executive principal, said: “We are so proud of all the learners who are receiving their grades today. Their dedication and hard work have provided them with the skills, knowledge, and qualifications to move onto their next steps. Thank you to all our expert staff who have supported students both inside and outside of the classroom to get the grades they have received today.

"We are incredibly proud of their ambition and achievements, particularly considering the turbulence experienced to young people’s education over the last 3 years. We very much look forward to seeing them flourish as they embark on their next steps and hope they will return to Longley Park in the future to inspire a generation."

Mike Westerdale, chief executive officer of Brigantia Trust said: “Once again Longley Park Sixth  Form has demonstrated its commitment to ensuring that the highest grades possible are achieved across a range of subjects and qualifications. Brigantia Learning Trust is today celebrating the  achievements of all our Level 3 entrants, and we are delighted at the news so many have already  accepted their first-choice destination for the next stage of their lifelong journey into the world of  higher education, apprenticeship, and work.” 

Students at Silverdale Sixth Form are celebrating today after opening their envelopes to some great results.

Silverdale Sixth Form’s class of 2023 achieved a 99.7 per cent pass rate, with and more than eight out of 10 of all grades today being between A* - C.

More than half of all students (53.1 per cent) progress to their next step with grades of AAB or better, and 39.3% of the grades awarded were A* or A. Top of class were ten students who achieved a full set of A* or A grades.

This year sees a return to pre-pandemic grading nationwide, meaning that grades in 2023 are comparable with those issued in 2019.  The school says their results show improvements in pass rate and in those students attaining the higher grades, when compared with 2019.

This year’s Year 13 students – for whom this was the first experience of external exams, following the cancellation of their GCSE exams in 2021 – should be particularly proud of their results, which are testament to their resilience and hard work.

Silverdale students now head out for destinations spanning the UK - including as far as a university in San Diego. 

Six students have secured Oxbridge places and 12 go on to study medicine, as well as one student each to study dentistry and veterinary science.

A number of students have also successfully secured apprenticeships in the competitive worlds of accountancy, quantity surveying, business management and engineering.

 It comes in the same year Silverdale’s Sixth Form received an ‘outstanding’ rating from Ofsted, while a purpose-built Sixth Form facility, which opens in September, is underway.

Head of Silverdale School, Sarah Sims, said: “I am so proud of these students. They have worked hard, with the unwavering support of their teachers, through a challenging few years and have succeeded in achieving some great results.  They are now reaping the rewards of their efforts as the vast majority of them head off to their preferred university place. 

“I and the Silverdale staff have benefitted from working with these inspirational young people who, we are sure, will go on to make their positive mark in the world. We wish them the best of luck in their undoubtedly bright futures.”

Educations experts say, nationwide, the proportion or grades in envelopes today that are A* or A is 27.2 per cent - down from 44.8 per cent during the pandemic, when grades were done using teacher assessments instead of exams.

It was predicted grades would deflate this year with the end of measures used during the days of Covid-19.

However, across the UK, 79 per cent of those receiving results gained a place at their first-choice university, UCAS says.

Commenting on the publication of A-level results, Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of teachers' union NASUWT, said: “While this year’s results are a reflection of the inevitable fluctuation in grades caused by the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic, they also reflect the Government’s choice to withdraw virtually all of the mitigations which were rightfully put in place in the last two years to account for the disruption to learning

 “Given the particular circumstances of the last few years seeking to draw conclusions about or comparisons with the performance of previous cohorts would be unfair and misleading.

 “Students and teachers have continued to work as hard as ever to secure these year’s results and they should be congratulated for their efforts.

 “However, the widening of the attainment gap between disadvantaged students and their peers likely to be reflected in these results demands further reflection and action.

 “We warned against a shift to a virtually ‘business as usual’ approach to this year’s exams by ministers, which rested on the erroneous assumption that the disruptive impact of the pandemic on pupils’ learning had largely subsided.

 “A return to pre-pandemic arrangements may have been easier to justify had the Government’s strategy of education recovery not been so inadequate and unambitious.

 “The approach has rested in large part on the National Tuition Programme which has been plagued with flaws. The strategy has failed to come anywhere close to meeting the depth of educational, social and emotional needs which exist within the pupil population. Schools have been largely left to pick up the pieces and support their pupils in isolation, without the expert and external support required.

 “The predictable outcome is that the most disadvantaged students have been particularly let down by this Government which has yet again shown its disregard for the life chances of those most in need of its support.”

We're starting to receive the overall results from Sheffield's schools and will be able to bring you more very shortly.

In the meantime, The Star has been at High Storrs School this morning and will have a photo gallery and some videos from their happy students to share with you soon.

It is a very happy morning at Sheffield's High Storrs School where of 67 per cent of all their students' grades today are A*-B, and nearly 40 per cent are A*-A grades. As well as that, the overall pass rate was 99.4 per cent.

It bucks the trend seen across England today as both are higher than what the school got in 2019 before the pandemic and teacher-assessed grades.

Head of Sixth Form, Laura Newell said: "We are so proud of our broad curriculum and inclusive offer that allows students to succeed in such a wide range of subjects including 3 languages, a strong science and maths offer and a range of creative subjects.  And we are equally proud of the hard work and tenacity of our students and staff to achieve an average grade of a B in 720 exam entries."

Headteacher Claire Tasker said: "It has been quite a rocky road to this day for our 234 students who have navigated years of disruption and change but today they achieve wonderful results that will open so many doors for the future. Most students have achieved their choice of university places and others have secured places at prestigious dance, drama, music, and art schools."

Here are the main headlines from this year's A-level results:

- The proportion of candidates receiving top grades has fallen from last year, but remains higher than before the Covid-19 pandemic. A total of 27.2% of entries were awarded either an A or A*, down from 36.4% in 2022 but up from 25.4% in 2019.

Read more: https://www.thestar.co.uk/education/sheffield-a-levels-main-national-statistics-exam-results-4258405

We have been there with students picking up their A-level results for decades - take a trip down memory lane with our retro photo gallery of previous results days

Read more: https://www.thestar.co.uk/education/a-level-results-day-retro-pap-august-2023-4257009

Schools across the city are preparing to open their doors to students waiting to find out how they did in their A-level exams

https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/a-level-results-2023-sheffield-students-set-to-find-out-grades-today-4258319