Students celebrate their A Level results at Eastbury Comprehensive School

Eastbury Comprehensive School was celebrating today over an A-level pass rate that was a five cent improvement on last year.

Just over three quarters of students at the school in Hulse Avenue, Barking achieved the target A* to C marks.

A total of 98 per cent of the grades were within the A* to E pass rate, meaning the school was up five per cent on last year’s results.

Just over 90 students qualified for places at university and 84 of those have taken up offers.

Headteacher David Dickson, said he was “so pleased” and “proud” of the Year 13 students’ achievements.

He added: “Getting the best from and for all our learners is our mission statement and this is fast becoming more and more of a reality.

“In these difficult economic times, achieving good results and developing interpersonal skills improves their life chances by getting them into good universities and onto excellent career paths. It is a privilege to work with such a great staff team and enthusiastic students.”

Alongside A-levels, the school runs BTEC and vocational courses in areas such as sport science. There was a 100 per cent pass rate in these courses.

Among the top achievers were Kayley Vanlint, 18, who scored A* in Maths, A in further maths and A in biology.

Kayley, who is going to Bath university to study maths, said: “I’m not sure what I want to be but maths and sciences were always the lessons I had been good at and what I liked. They are the kind of subjects that will hopefully provide many of the jobs in the future.”

Nazli Cosgun scored an impressive AAB and Ayun Butt achieved A*ABB.

Jeanette Nam, Doreta Matulyte, Qasim Zahid and Shumana Begum achieved the much prized A* grade.

Despite the general air of elation, some students expressed their concerns about rise in tuition fees, which has led to courses being able to charge up to £9,000 a year. Some also said they were worried about the difficult economic climate.

Momtaz Hussain, 18, who achieved ABC and is going to Goldsmiths university, said: “At the beginning when the fees were rising we were thinking about whether it was worth it, but I always wanted to go to uni and I’m glad I’m doing it.”

Qasim Zahid, 18, who is going to Brunel university to study maths, said: “There are a wider range of careers you can go into when you have a degree. The climate does concern me though because I’ve seen other people finding it hard to get a job.”