UAE schools record outstanding A-level results

Dubai: UAE students who appeared for their A-level examinations in June have proved their academic calibre to the world with outstanding results declared on Thursday.

This year, the largest cohort of A-level students come from Gems Education across 13 of its schools offering the United Kingdom curriculum. Of the 600 students who appeared for the examinations at Gems’ schools, nearly 33 per cent achieved A* or A grade. Of these, Jumeirah College (JC) merits a special mention. Of the 140 students taking A Levels in the school, 30 achieved all A* or A grades. Simon O’Connor, principal of JC, said: “The students have done wonderfully — far exceeding expectations. This reflects years of hard work from both the students and their teachers, who work tirelessly to support each individual. I am so grateful for all that the staff at the school do, and I know the students are too.”

Sir Christopher Stone, Global chief education officer, GEMS Education, congratulated all Gems Education students on their exceptional results.

Taleem-run Dubai British School (DBS) had an outstanding result too with 78 per cent of its students achieving A*-B — an increase in performance by 5 per cent since last year. DBS had 58 students in Year 13 with 44 on A–level course and 14 on the BTEC pathway. Principal Simon Jodrell said: “We could not be any more proud of our ‘Sixth Form Students’ at DBS; their hard work has paid off.”

Dubai College had 62 per cent of their students achieving an A or A*. Bobby Trivic, Head of the sixth form at DC said, “Exactly one third of the College’s most recent leavers have achieved all As and A*s and seven students are celebrating after gaining a full house of A*s, an achievement as rare as it is spectacular. These successes have once again opened the doors to the most hallowed university destinations around the world.”

Headmaster, Michael Lambert, added, “I am deeply impressed with both the dedication of the staff and the resilience of our students. The fact that 59 per cent of our students received an offer the top one per cent of universities worldwide, a new school record by a country mile, is what makes our collective efforts worthwhile.”

The first ever A-level cohort of 29 students at King’s School Al Barsha have also set a precedent by achieving outstanding results with several students achieving A* to A grade. Michael Bloy, Secondary Head Teacher, Kings’ School Al Barsha, said: “We are a proudly inclusive school and are thrilled with the progress that all our students have made. As a school, we encourage our students to pursue their own pathway, choosing the subjects they are passionate about, rather than being at a school that determines their A-Level choices based on GCSE results alone.”

The Sixth formers of Brighton College Abu Dhabi did exceedingly well too with 40 per cent achieving A*-A grades and a 100 per cent pass rate for the exams. Simon Corns, headmaster of Brighton College Abu Dhabi, said: “The 100 per cent pass rate and a remarkably good A*/A performance of 40 per cent will enable our pupils secure excellent university places in the UK and US.”

Elsewhere, The British School Al Khubairat (BSAK), Abu Dhabi, also announcd that nearly 46 per cent of all scores achieved were A* to A grades and 67 per cent of all scores achieved were A*, A or B grades.

High achievers

King’s School Al Barsha:

■ Rhali Attar — A*, A, A, A in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Photography and will be taking up Maths at University of Warwick.

■ Millie McElroy — A*, A, A in Spanish, English Literature and History and will be studying Law at Durham University.

■ Goncalo Lopez — A, A, A, B in Biology, Physics, Maths and Chemistry and will be reading Medicine at the Nova School, Portugal.

■ Michael Rizk — A*, A, A in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and will be studying Aeronautical Engineering at Southampton University.

■ Jainisha Thadhani — A, A, A in Biology, Chemistry and Psychology and will be taking up Medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland.

King’s School Al Barsha

■ Millie McElroy achieved A*, A, A in Spanish, English Literature and History and will be studying Law at Durham University

“Studying at Kings School Al Barsha as a part of the first Sixth Form cohort, for me has been an exceptional experience. I chose to study History, English Literature and Spanish with the end goal being to read Law at Durham University, UK. The academic demands of the current A Level system have meant that I needed hard work and self-motivation alongside my dedicated and supportive teaching staff. I have also had a strong Kings’ Sixth Form Leadership Team who have had the perfect balance of pushing and nurturing me throughout the two years, enabling me to achieve my results of A*AA. A huge thank you to the community at Kings’ School Al Barsha”

Jumeirah College, Dubai

■ Kazal Oshodi — A Level student from GEMS Jumeirah College, is a high achiever and his score for Maths is in the top 50 in the world. He got four A*s in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Chemistry, and will attend Cambridge University to study Engineering. He said: “It took a lot of hard work and lots of revision, even over the past year – which really picked up in May and June when the actual exams came along. I will miss my friends at Jumeirah College and also having fun in lessons while learning, as by having fun is one of the best ways to learn.”

Brighton College, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi

■ Maheen Shahbazi — A*A*A (English Literature, History, Economics — will read philosophy, politics and Economics at Warwick University

■ Konrad Galazka — AAA (Mathematics, Computers Sciene and Physics) — will read computer science at McGill University, Canada

■ Hana Bagueid — AAB (Economics, English Literature, History) — will read law at either the universities of Leeds or Cardiff

■ Lara Brown — A*AB (Art, Politics, History) — will take a gap year as a volunteer

■ Georgia De Lima Zanella — A*AB (Art, English Literature, Biology) — will read psychology at the University of Amsterdam.

British School Al Khubairat (BSAK)

■ Karishma D, a Sixth Form student, who received an A* in Math, A in Biology and A in Chemistry, said “I am absolutely thrilled by my A-level results, which mean that I have secured a place at my university of choice, and will be studying biomedical science at Imperial College London. I would like to thank all my teachers and especially my math teacher, who has been there for me throughout the year and at times when I was unsure that I can get the score I needed. This is absolutely phenomenal!”

Dubai British School

■ Natasha Tareen — A*\A*/B, looking to ago to Melbourne for International Relations