Seaford College has increased academic momentum as students achieve their best ever A Level results for a second consecutive year. When John Green took up his role as Headmaster six years ago, he focussed on Academic Seaford. His restructure of the School and the increased focus on ambition for all pupils has paid dividends for all students. His strategy for Academic Enrichment, challenging the More Able Learner (previously Gifted & Talented), has increased academic ambition with a record number of students heading to Russell Group Universities including Oxbridge.

John Green proudly said: “We’ve consistently seen improvements each year and it’s great to see our best ever results this year, enabling our students to go onto their chosen route on leaving the School. We’ve achieved our best ever results at grades A*, A*-A and A*-B (A Level), and Distinction* (BTEC). I’m really pleased to see that our students and teachers have risen to the challenge of the new tougher linear system for all A Levels, which makes these results even more impressive. We’ve bucked the national trend which has seen the proportion of students achieving the top grades at A Level falling to its lowest level since 2007.  This year also sees the College’s highest number of applicants going onto Russell Group Universities, including Oxbridge. Seaford is a proud academically non-selective School and no matter what pathway our students have taken, they have embraced our high academic expectations at all levels and most importantly achieved their own personal bests.”

Notable A Level successes securing 2A* and A are Ana Pantazopoulou (from the Seychelles) who is heading to the University of Oxford to read Geology, Ross Donaldson (from Haslemere) is heading to the University of Exeter to study Exercise and Sports Science, Isabel Greenwood (from Billingshurst) will read Japanese Studies at University.

Tor Pothecary (from Graffham) achieved 2A* and B and will read International Relations at the University of Birmingham. Achieving A* A and B are Tilly Lock (from Houghton) who is reading Marine Zoology at Newcastle University and Danny Linn (from Guangdong) will read Mathematics and Computer Science at University.

Securing 2As and B are Ollie Somers (from Hindhead) heading to the University Exeter to read Geography, Liza Tsvang (from Moscow) is heading to the University of Durham to read History, while Jack Doe (from Bognor Regis) will read Politics and International Relations at the University York.

Kamal Sameer (from Kuala Lumpur) gained 2As and C and will read Management with Entrepreneurship at Royal Holloway, University of London. Nina Damjanovic (from Zagreb) gained 2As and B and will read Economics at the University of Leeds.
Achieving an A and 2Bs are Amelia Allen (from Petworth) who will read English Literature at Oxford Brookes University and Harry Disley-May (from Esher) who will study Marketing Management at Newcastle University.

Achieving 3Bs are Freya Brazier (from Petworth) who will read Marine Biology at the University Southampton, Josh Dawkins (from Horsham) who will study Business and Management at Sussex University and Cameron Gillespie (from Arundel) who will read History at the University of Exeter.

Emily Holden (from Woking) gained Distinction*, A and B and will study Film and Television at the University of Edinburgh. Marcello Iannucci (from Hemel Hempstead) achieved 2Bs and C and is heading to the Met Film School to study Practical Film Making.

John Green added: “My vision when I took on the role as Headmaster was to increase the academic ambition of Seaford and these results are testament to the personal ambition our students have. I believe that ambition pays off! I introduced Challenge Grades, a system that regularly updates students with their progress, and gives them a Challenge Grade for the end of their course. If students work hard and have the ambition to succeed, we support them in every way to achieve their results. We have a tutoring system that enables regular updates and support and a world-class level of pastoral care that enables our students to thrive and achieve. Most importantly these results have been achieved with a smile on our students’ faces, in a happy and supportive community.

Seaford’s ethos is personal bests for every child and we have various strategies to achieve this. We carefully advise Seaford students when they come into Year 12 on the best pathway for them. This could be an academic pathway of purely A Levels, a vocational pathway with BTECs/CTECs or a combination of the two. We want our students to get their personal bests and whichever pathway they have followed we have seen our best ever results. Seaford is proud to offer A Levels and BTECs/CTECs and has a variety of different students in our community.

Twins Hannah and Brice Wardrop (from Bognor Regis) are perfect examples of different types of students achieving their personal bests on our different pathways; both are very smart in different ways. Hannah achieved A* A and B at A Level and aspires to head to a Conservatoire to train as an Opera Singer. She’s returning to study on our Year 14 course to prepare her for Conservatoire. Her brother Brice took advantage of our BTEC courses and gained a Distinction* and Distinction (the equivalent of A* A at A Level). Both share a common interest and enjoyed singing in our Choir.
This is the first results day for our CTEC Media students and the results have been superb with 12 Distinctions * and 3 Distinctions. A special mention should go to Emilia Osborne (from Hindhead) who took a Diploma, achieving a Double Distinction*. Emilia’s passion for the subject led to her doing additional study in her own time to achieve the Diplomas. This is a great example of the bespoke nature of the education Seaford can provide. Emilia is heading to the University of Gloucestershire to study Film Production.”

John Green said: “We’ve also seen a record number of students taking the EPQ (Extended Project Qualification) in their final year, this is a highly coveted award, which is greatly valued by universities. Students, alongside their demanding academic studies, also took on an independent research project in their final year. They researched a wide variety of very interesting topics, beyond the curriculum and in many ways the EPQ reflects the way students will need to independently study at university and colleges. These results show that our students are independent learners and have the creativity and curiosity to research their own projects. On leaving Seaford they are ready to follow their own academic path for future success.

Despite these superb academic achievements, Seaford has maintained its core ethos and these results were achieved in a non-pressurised environment where students have also exceled in extra-curricular pursuits alongside their studies.”
Headmaster John Green concluded: “Our pupils are increasingly ambitious in all aspects of their education, and we are immensely proud of all of their achievements across our diverse curriculum. The superb results this year demonstrate the undoubted strengthening academic core at the School. I’d like to wish everyone success in their future studies, employment and gap year adventures and we look forward to welcoming you back at Seaford in the future.”