• Over 99% pass rate overall at A Level (against a national pass rate of 98%)

• A record-equalling 87% of Truro & Penwith College students passed with the higher grades of A-C (compared to national A-C grade pass rate of 78%)

• 100% pass rate achieved in 39 A level subjects

More students than ever have achieved outstanding A Level results at Truro and Penwith College, which once again has beaten the national average with more than a 99% pass rate.

With an increase of 12% on last year’s A level numbers, the biggest ever student cohort is celebrating exceptional results at the College which was awarded Ofsted Outstanding status earlier this year. A record-equalling 87% of students passed with the higher grades of A-C (compared to national A-C grade pass rate of 78%).

Subjects including Chemistry, Geology, English Literature, History and Psychology were among the 39 disciplines across the College’s campuses in Truro and Penzance in which students achieved a 100% pass rate.

Truro and Penwith College students boasted impressive top grade figures across the board, notching up a combined total of 225 A* grades.

Nineteen students achieved four straight grade As or A*s, while 119 achieved three or more grade As or A*s.

Demonstrating the popularity of STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Maths) A Level subjects at the College, Biology registered 128 successful students, with 122 in Chemistry and 113 in Physics.

Mathematics saw 203 students pass, with 41 adding an A level in Further Maths.

An impressive 15 students have received confirmed places for Oxford and Cambridge University

Commenting on this year’s A Level results, Truro and Penwith College Principal David Walrond said: “Students and staff really do deserve all the praise and recognition which these results will earn them, just as our learners fully merit the great university and career progression opportunities which achievements of this quality will deliver for them. I am delighted that record numbers of young people in Cornwall are choosing A levels here and that the college has been able to support their ambitions and aspirations.”

Liam Smith from Wadebridge is one of many students who has proved it’s never too late to get exceptional results.

“I was an average student at GCSE, only getting by,” he explained. “Truro and Penwith College has given me a new start, the teachers are brilliant and they have turned my average grades into fantastic grades.”

Liam achieved three A*s in Maths, Physics and Geology, and will study Geophysics at Imperial College London.

Exceptional student Carla Aldington, from St Austell, received two A* and an A for Biology, English Literature and Chemistry.

The College helped Carla in her successful application for a Women in Science Scholarship and she will be attending Kings College London to study Chemistry with Biomedicine this September.

“My mum is a single parent so the scholarship is very helpful,” she said. “Truro and Penwith provides such a supportive environment, there’s not a College like it in Cornwall.”

Despite battling illness in her first year, Abigail Waring says coming to College was the best decision she ever made and is now looking forward to studying climatology.

The former Mounts Bay Academy pupil was awarded a B grade in Geography, A in English Literature and an A* in Philosophy and is now going on to study Meteorology and Climatology at the University of Reading.

She said: “I started my A level three years ago but became ill during my first year so had to defer. It was daunting coming back to College but I restarted two years ago with incredible support. I feel like I wouldn’t have done so well if it wasn’t for the great teaching at Penwith College. It is definitely the best decision I have ever made to come to College. I have met loads of new people, had great fun learning and have reached my goal to go to study climatology and meteorology at degree level.”

Keeping it in the family, brothers Milo and Noah Semonin from Tregony bagged six A*s and As between them. Milo will be studying Mathematics at Birmingham University while Noah is heading to Imperial College London to pursue his passion for flying with a degree in Aeronautical Engineering.

It has already been a wonderful summer for results across both campuses at Truro and Penwith College, with vocational courses and the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme producing impressive levels of attainment.

Within this IB group is Lowenna Ovens from Truro who scored a remarkable 44 points out of 45 and is one of the Truro and Penwith College students securing Oxbridge places. Lowenna will read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Oxford University and is mulling a career in politics.

She joins a total of 57 students who completed the IB diploma at Truro College, with the average score of 36 points equivalent to A*, A*, A, A, at A Level.

Additionally, nearly nine hundred students successfully completed their two-year level 3 vocational courses this summer with again most students achieving very high grades. These figures make Truro and Penwith College one of the largest providers of higher level vocational qualifications nationally, as well as one of the most successful in terms of achievement levels. Nearly 200 students achieved the highest BTEC L3 grade possible, the coveted triple Distinction star.

Mark Wardle, Director of Curriculum at the college, added: “What these exceptional A level results demonstrate again are the great benefits of post-16 study at a specialist post-16 college which is a centre of teaching excellence. Students here get facilities, support and resources designed around them, and they work with designated post-16 staff with those high levels of subject expertise required for advanced levels of study. Although we are celebrating A levels today, the same benefits inform the college’s vocational offer too and produce the same high levels of achievement. We know it is a winning formula and it will be at the heart of Callywith College which opens in a year’s time. “