Varndean College in Brighton celebrates 'impressive' results

Varndean Sixth Form College is celebrating another strong set of exam results, with students achieving the college’s highest-ever proportion of top A-level grades and winning places at leading universities across the UK.

The Brighton college reported a 98 per cent A-level pass rate this year, while more than half of all grades were between A* and B.

A quarter of all grades were awarded at A* or A, marking the strongest performance at these grades in the college’s history. More than three-quarters of students also achieved grades from A* to C.

Students taking vocational qualifications also recorded a 98 per cent pass rate, with more than half securing either a Distinction or Distinction*.

Principal Donna-Marie Janson praised students for their commitment and resilience over the past two years.

She said the results reflected not only students’ academic achievements but also the individual journeys and ambitions behind each grade.

The college also highlighted the success of its International Baccalaureate students, who received their results earlier in the summer.

Among the standout performers was Arun Webb, a former Blatchington Mill School pupil, who achieved the maximum IB score of 45 points. His result places him among the top one per cent of IB students worldwide.

Webb will study Social and Public Policy with Quantitative Methods at the University of Glasgow.

Iris Dury, another former Blatchington Mill student, scored 44 points and will take French and Beginners' Italian at the University of Oxford.

Toby Douglass, formerly of Chailey School, achieved 43 points and will study Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge.

Saskia Gualtieri Kros, a former Varndean School student, achieved 42 points and will continue her studies in Biomedical Sciences at Oxford.

The college said the results were a reflection of the hard work of students and staff, as its latest cohort prepares to move on to university and other destinations.