Staffordshire’s Leading College Announces ‘Class of 2020’ Results
Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group (NSCG) have congratulated ‘The Class of 2020’ students on A Level and BTEC results.
Headline results are: 1112 A Level entries with pass rate of 97.21%, 450 A Level entries achieved high grades A*-B (+5% v’s prior year) with 763 achieving A* – C (+7% v’s prior year), 32 A Level courses report 100% pass rate, including Art & Design, Computing, Economics, English Language, English Literature, French, Film Studies, Graphic Design, History, Media Studies, Further Mathematics, Physical Education, Philosophy, Religious Education, Spanish and Theatre Studies, Over 1100 BTEC Extended Diploma entries with 100% pass rate.
In a year where summer exams were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 A Level grades are based on centre assessments that have been independently moderated by examination boards. However, in an eleventh hour change to the system, the government announced on 11 August 2020 that students would also be able to use their mock examination results to appeal if they are unhappy with the grades awarded.
Karen Dobson OBE, Principal and Chief Executive of NSCG said: “I’d like to pass on my personal congratulations to all of the students who are received their results. The global pandemic has bought unprecedented disruption to the end of this academic year, with challenges around grade moderation and last minute announcements on mock exam results that are lacking in clarity, making it difficult for us to provide the necessary guidance and reassurance to our students who will undoubtedly be feeling anxious.”
Karen added: “At a headline level, we are pleased to see the anticipated improvements in our overall pass rate and high-grade performance materialise. However, we are disappointed with the awarding body moderation in a number of our key A Level subject areas, and once the appeal process is clarified, we will be supporting the students whose grades are lower than their teacher assessed grades and/or lower than their mock examinations through an appeal process. Despite the circumstances, this cohort has worked incredibly hard during their time at NSCG, and will be remembered as a fantastic year group who were with us on our journey to becoming an Ofsted Outstanding college. I am confident that despite the challenges presented this year, the class of 2020 will leave NSCG fully equipped with the qualifications, skills, confidence and resilience to be successful in their further studies, employment or apprenticeship. We wish them every success in their future careers and we look forward to following their progression with interest. With September fast approaching, we are also looking forward to welcoming many new students to both our Newcastle College and Stafford College campuses and hope that these students are excited to become a part of our continued success story.”
In 2019 NSCG sent more students to university than any college in Staffordshire and the Group is predicting that despite an uncertain backdrop, the results should once again see it maintain its position as the leading provider of students to higher education in the area, with hundreds of students set to be accepted in to their chosen universities.
Top performing students at the College are expected to progress to a number of prestigious universities across the UK including; University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Keele University, King’s College London, University of Birmingham, University of Bristol, University of Durham, University of Leeds, University College London, University of Manchester, University of Nottingham, University of Warwick and University of York.
Annually around 97% of NSCG students progress to university, an apprenticeship or employment.
