Harrow College GCSE students look to the future after lockdown results

@HarrowCollege students are celebrating their hard work and commitment and looking to the future after receiving their #GCSEResults. 

Controversies around this year’s academic and vocational results, which have been subject to major revisions under Government policy changes due to the Covid crisis, are not stopping the college’s students going from strength to strength and progressing on to the right programme of study for them.

Our 2019/20 students have continued a strong tradition of progressing in high numbers with the majority of students achieving the GCSE grades that enable them to continue to a Level 3 qualification. Many will be coming back to college to do A Levels or a Level 3 BTEC, often planning to continue to university. 

Harrow College Science, which offers a full-time one year GCSE programme for students who are either doing the exams for the first time or who didn’t fulfil their potential at school, achieved a 75% pass rate at GCSE grades 9-4 (equivalent to the old A*-C) and 95% overall pass rate, grades 9-1.

Pat Carvalho, Principal of Harrow College, said: “I would like to say a huge congratulations to all our students and also to say how incredibly proud I am of them. Everyone has done their absolute best to rise to the challenge of being in lockdown during their studies, and they all deserve to celebrate and look to a happy and successful future.”

Dr Darrell DeSouza, Group Principal of the merged college group Harrow College Uxbridge College, said: “Harrow College is pleased to continue to run a successful full-time GCSE science programme where students can either sit the exams for the first time, or study them again if they have not been able to fulfil their potential at school. This gives young people a chance to progress to higher study at A Level or join vocational programmes including Apprenticeships, which means they can then progress to University or into a career of their choice.

“As the college GCSE programme is completed across just one year, students normally take up to five subjects as opposed to the higher numbers taken at school, where this is part of the final two years of high school study.”

BTEC Levels 1 and 2 and some other vocational qualifications which would normally have been released on the same day as GCSEs, have been delayed due to changes in how they are calculated. A Levels and Level 3 vocational qualifications such as BTECs are also due to be re-graded.