A Level Results Day: Sheffield's 2021 students celebrate day of success
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It was an A-Level results day like no other for Sheffield students who have been through two years like no other.
Hundreds of pupils across Sheffield opened their envelopes on Tuesday – a change from the traditional Thursday results today - to record breaking grades.
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Hide AdAlmost 45 per cent of grades awarded were A or A*, setting a new record.
It comes after exams this summer were cancelled for the second year running in response to Covid-19.
Instead, results were awarded following Teacher Assessed Grades against a national standard and approved and awarded by the exam boards. The government is not publishing performance data for any schools or colleges this year due to the varying impact of the pandemic.
But it has raised concerns that pupils have been subjected to “grades inflation” – as well as predictions that universities will be dealing with record number of appeals for pupils who didn’t get the marks they needed.
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Hide AdZaakir Hussain at Sheffield Park Academy earned three A*s in Maths, Chemistry and Biology and bagged his place to study Medicine at the University of Sheffield.
He said: “I’m over the moon, there’s no other way to put it.
“It’s been an on and off year. First the exams were cancelled and it was all over the place. It made it very hard but through all of it my teachers just told us how to handle the stress, and took a lot of the stress on themselves and handled a lot. I want to say thank you to all of them.”
This year’s pupils’ entire experience was eclipsed by having to study under the Covid-19 pandemic. Many students talked about the difficulties of revising and learning without their friends or the opportunities to have “one-to -ones” with their teachers.
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Hide AdAnd yet, some record setting results have been reported. Sheffield’s Birkdale School came out with 76 per cent of all grades at A or A* level. Sheffield High School for Girls says 63 per cent of its students have achieved grade A or A*s, with 17 students achieving all A*s.
Silverdale Sixth Form and Birkdale are sending off a total of 11 pupils to Oxford and Cambridge.
Today, Thursday August 12, is when Sheffield pupils will receive their GCSE results.
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