West Midlands students celebrate A-level results as colleges report strong performances

Students across the West Midlands celebrated their A-level and post-16 results on Thursday, August 13, with schools and colleges reporting strong performances and pupils securing places at universities, apprenticeships and further training.

Among those celebrating were the Sandwell College Group, which described this year’s performance as its best ever, and King Edward VI College in Stourbridge, which recorded a 99.5 per cent A-level pass rate across 3,581 entries.

There were smiles at Central Saint Michael’s Sixth Form in West Bromwich as students collected their results, with CEO and principal Lisa Capper MBE describing the college’s performance as its best ever.

“It’s very exciting here,” she said. “We’ve got the best ever A-Level results. We improved last year, and we’ve improved again this year across a wide range of courses.”

Ms Capper said the sixth form had developed a distinctive, university-style environment, giving students the opportunity to study in what she described as a more grown-up setting.

The morning also saw individual celebrations at Sandwell College, including for Tia Satchell-Thomson.

Tia received the Pupil of the Year award after achieving a Distinction* in Level Three Childcare and Education. She has secured a place at Haybridge Teaching School, where she will study Primary Teaching.

The college has also used results day to underline the importance of vocational and technical education. Ms Capper spoke positively about new government plans to put technical education on a more equal footing with academic qualifications, saying the country needed to develop higher-level technical skills.

In Stourbridge, students at King Edward VI College were celebrating another strong set of results.

The college recorded a 99.5 per cent pass rate across 3,581 A-level entries, with almost 2,000 results awarded at A*-B.

In the arts, Textiles and Drama cohorts each achieved more than 95 per cent A*-B grades, while Dance achieved 94.7 per cent. Film Studies recorded 79.6 per cent, Fine Art 74.2 per cent and Graphical Communication 71.1 per cent.

There were also strong performances in some of the college’s largest subjects. Mathematics recorded 62.7 per cent A*-B across 351 entries, while Sociology achieved 64.4 per cent and English Literature 59.8 per cent.

Further Mathematics, Geology, Spanish and Physics all recorded 100 per cent pass rates.

The college also reported strong results in other Level 3 qualifications, with Criminology achieving a 97.6 per cent pass rate on the Applied Certificate and 99.5 per cent on the Applied Diploma.

Principal Holly Bembridge said the figures represented individual stories of hard work and determination.

“Today is for our students,” she said. “Their results reflect two years of tough work, intellectual curiosity and determination, and we are so proud of them.”

Declared results across the West Midlands and Staffordshire:

King Edward VI College, Stourbridge

• 99.5% A-level pass rate from 3,581 entries.
• Almost 2,000 A-B grades*.
• Textiles and Drama both recorded more than 95% A-B*.
• Dance achieved 94.7% A-B*.
• Maths achieved 62.7% A-B* across 351 entries.
• Further Maths, Geology, Spanish and Physics all recorded 100% pass rates.
• Criminology also achieved very strong vocational results.

The Khalsa Academy, Wolverhampton

• 100% pass rate across all subjects.
• A-level average grade: C+.
• 84.8% A-C* and 46.2% A-B*.
• Applied General students achieved an average Distinction-, with every student achieving at least a Pass.
• Millen Minhas achieved A*AA in Psychology, Biology and Maths.

St Edmund’s Catholic Academy, Wolverhampton

• Students secured places at universities including Exeter, Worcester, Manchester, Cardiff, Leeds and Cambridge.
• Sophie achieved Distinction, B, C* and secured a Cambridge Foundation Year place.
• Daniel achieved A*AB and is going to Leeds to study Economics.
• Several students also secured higher apprenticeships.

BOA Stage and Screen Production Academy, Birmingham

• 100% pass rate in BTEC Level 3 qualifications.
• 97% achieved high grades.
• 83% achieved the maximum possible DDD* grade/equivalent.
• Level 4 qualifications also achieved a 100% pass rate.
• 79% of Level 4 students achieved Merit or Distinction.

The Arthur Terry School, Sutton Coldfield

• Multiple students achieved three A*s.
• Alfie Jephson: AAA, heading to Nottingham.
• Isabelle Agbonlahor-Lane: AAA, heading to Liverpool.
• Gabriel Agbonlahor: AAA, heading to Manchester to study Law.
• Millie Stanley achieved A*AA and is heading to Sheffield to study Medicine.
• Other students secured places at Bath and Birmingham.

Aspire Sixth Form, South Staffordshire

• Charlie Fry: AAA, going to Birmingham to study Physics with Data Science.
• Zeth Nelder: AAA, going to Warwick to study History.
• Harry Orme: Dist*A A, progressing to Primary Education.
• Keeley Meredith: DistDistA, going to Birmingham City to study Fine Art.
• Bella Gracey: A*AB, securing an accountancy apprenticeship.

Ormiston Forge Academy, Cradley Heath

• Lexi secured a place at Cambridge to study History.
• Marcus secured a Level 7 apprenticeship in Auditing.
• Joe achieved AAA and is heading to Loughborough for Fine Art.
• Libby achieved A*AB and will study English Literature at Birmingham.
• Hannah is heading to Aston to study Optometry.

Blessed William Howard Catholic High School, Stafford

• 23% of all grades were A or A*.
• All vocational students achieved Distinction or Distinction*.
• More than three quarters secured university or apprenticeship places.
• Evie Murphy achieved AAA + A in EPQ and is going to Oxford to study Law.
• Laila Temple achieved A*AAA + A in EPQ and is heading to Manchester for Law.

Ormiston SWB Academy, Bilston

• 63% achieved an A in Geography, with every student getting B or above.
• Philosophy, Religion and Ethics: 67% A grades.
• Biology: 60% A-B* and 80% A*-C.
• Applied Science and Triple Health & Social Care both averaged Distinction.
• Kat achieved A*AA and is heading to Manchester for Medical Biochemistry.

Ormiston Shelfield Community Academy, Walsall

• Caitlyn achieved A*AA and will study Sociology and Criminology at Warwick.
• Oliver achieved BB + Distinction* and will study Mathematics and Actuarial Science at Leicester.
• Ruby achieved AB + Distinction* and is heading to Aston to study Pharmacy.
• Strong results were also reported in Product Design, Biology, Music, Sociology and Computing.

Windsor High School and Sixth Form, Halesowen

• Harrison Ward achieved four A*s and is going to Birmingham for Aerospace Engineering.
• Tom Hemmings achieved A*AA and is heading to Oxford for Chemistry.
• Nasma Abdo achieved A*AA and will study Medicine at Birmingham.
• 70 grades at A-A* overall.
• More than half of grades in several subjects were A*-A, with particularly strong Modern Foreign Language results.

St Dominic’s Grammar School, Brewood

• 96% of A-level grades A-E*.
• 20% of grades A-A*.
• 45% A-B*.
• EPQ achieved 100% A-B*.
• George and Elizabeth are both heading to York to study Law and Business Management.

Colton Hills Community School, Wolverhampton

• Vocational results improved, with a 6% increase in Distinction* grades.
• 60% of BTEC grades were Distinction-Distinction*.
• Isha achieved three As and a Distinction and is going to Birmingham for Law.
• Harvir achieved AAA and is heading to Birmingham for Medicine.
• Manrose achieved triple Distinction*, placing her in the top 1.5% nationally according to the school.

George Salter Academy, West Bromwich

• Antej achieved three A*s in Maths, Biology and Chemistry.
• Tamanna achieved A*AA and is going to Leicester for Medicine.
• Mohammed achieved A*AB and secured a place at Imperial College London for Chemical Engineering.
• Rayyan achieved AA + Distinction and will study Law at Birmingham.

Ormiston NEW Academy, Wolverhampton

• Lillie achieved BBC + two Merits and is going to Liverpool for Classical Civilisations.
• Abbas achieved BCC and will study Politics at Glasgow.
• Charlie achieved BC + two Distinctions and will study at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts.
• Simarpreet achieved Distinction, Distinction, C* and secured a National Grid finance apprenticeship.
• Stephanie achieved the same grades and will study Finance at Aston.

Phoenix Collegiate

• Jake Paxford achieved AAA and is going to Warwick for Natural Sciences.
• Jaspreet Multani achieved A*AB.
• Palkpreet Kaur achieved AAA.
• Prafulla Kandel achieved ABB and is heading to Nottingham for Aeronautics.

The Royal School Wolverhampton

• Charlie Foster achieved AAA in Economics, Physics and Maths while also representing the Isle of Man at the Commonwealth Games.
• Karan Dahyea achieved A*AAB.
• Ali Zada achieved A*AA.
• Aaronveer Cheema achieved AAA.

The Hart School, Rugeley

• More than three quarters of students are heading to university or higher apprenticeships.
• The school reported an increase in higher A*/A grades.
• Particularly strong results in English Literature, History, Sociology, Media Studies and Dance.
• Standout performances included Grace Mackie with A*BB and Daisy Irving with AAB.

Wood Green Academy, Wednesbury

• Majority of students secured first-choice university, apprenticeship or employment destinations.
• Arman Ahmed and Mahdi Ahmed both achieved three A*s.
• George Gibu achieved 2A*2A.
• Muhammad Ahns achieved A*AA.
• Raheem Islam and Mohammed Rahman both achieved AAA.

Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group

• 99.2% A-level pass rate across 1,435 entries.
• 62.5% A-B*, up from 58% in 2025.
• 28.4% A-A*, up from 24% in 2025.
• T Levels achieved a 99% pass rate.
• BTECs achieved a 99% pass rate, with 58.6% achieving Triple Distinction.