Cardiff school achieves top A level results for UK independent schools

A fee paying school in Wales achieved the best A-level results for independent schools in the UK this year. Cardiff Sixth Form college had a 95% pass rate at the top A* or A grades in the first set of summer exams for three years, according to the Daily Telegraph using figures from the Independent Schools Council.

Separate data released by Cardiff Sixth Form College show a total 75% achieved the very top A* grade at A level, 99% were awarded A*-B and there was an 100% pass rate. The co-educational boarding and day school on Newport Road, charges fees from between £20,600 and £53,600 for the coming 2022-23 academic year.

Cardiff Sixth Form College is highly selective and takes students from all over the world. It also offers a limited number of scholarships to top achieving students from Wales and elsewhere who apply.

Read more: What it costs to send kids to independent schools in Wales and how their results compare

As well as success at A level the school, owned by Dukes Education, said its GCSE results this summer were the best ever in an examination year - after two years of teacher assessment during Covid. An impressive 78.9% of GCSE results were graded at A*. A further 89% achieved A*-A and 96% A*-B.

The Telegraph data ranks King’s College School in London as second best independent school for A level results in 2022 with 93.8% achieving A*-A grades. The day school charges £8,085 annual fees. In third place was Guildford High School with a 92.9% pass rate at A*-A for A level. It charges £6,100 yearly day fees.

The ISC represents 1,400 independent schools across the UK. Not all independent schools in the UK either submit their data to the ISC or are represented by the ISC. It is the first time results data has been collected since 2019 because exams were cancelled during Covid and grades awarded by teacher assessment.

Across the UK as a whole independent schools saw the biggest falls in top grades in 2022 after more than seven in 10 achieved A*-A in 2021 under teacher assessment. This summer 58 per cent in fee paying schools got A*-A at A level, compared to the national overall 40.9% for Wales. Under teacher assessed A level grades in 2021 Cardiff Sixth Form College achieved 98% A* to A grades and 100% at A*-B.

Cardiff Sixth Form principal Gareth Collier said: "We are delighted to be listed as the top school in the UK ( for A level results 2022). ‘It is testament to the hard work of our teachers and students over the past two years and indeed the support of all our staff at the college who have been determined to ensure our students not only excel academically but enjoy their time with us and are able to progress onto some of the top universities in the world."

Poorest pupils in Wales 'significantly' behind their peers, study says

Cardiff teenager explains what life is really like at £50,000-a-year Eton

A level results 2022 for private schools in Wales

The following results were published by schools:

Howell's Co-Ed College Cardiff

A* 33%

A-A 59%

A*-B 80%

Twin brothers at Howell’s Co-Ed College in Cardiff received a matching set of A level results this summer. Identical twins Bernard and Linus Lo from Cardiff both achieved four A* grades in their A levels (Howell's School)

The Cathedral School, Llandaff

A* 45%

A*-A 75%

Kings Monkton School, Cardiff

A*-A 61%

Rydal Penrhos, Colwyn Bay

A* 37.78%

A*-A 64.2%

A*-B 80.5% a

A*-C 92.7%

A*- E 100%

Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools, Monmouth

A* more than a quarter

A*-A 55.6%

A*-B 76.7%

Pupils at Haberdashers’ Monmouth Schools (Haberdashers' Monmouth Schools)

St Clare's Porthcawl

A*-A 75%

A*-B 90%

Pass rate 100%

Rougemont School, Newport

A* 38%

A*-A 75%

A*-B 91%

Redhill High School, Pembrokeshire

88% of all grades awarded were A*B grades at both AS and A Level. 75% of A Level students achieved at least one or more A*A grade

Christ College Brecon

A*23%

A*-A 45%

Myddleton College, Denbighshire

A*-C 75%

Ruthin School, Denbighshire

78% of pupils achieved at least one A or A*

Llandovery College, Carmarthenshire

A* 13%

A*-A 40%

A*-B 62%

A*-C %86%

A*-E 100%

Read next:

'I bought a school with no students and turned it into the most successful in Wales'

Parents at Welsh high school 'choosing between paying bills and sending kids to school'

A scandal-hit school has its first woman headteacher in 700 years and this is what she's planning

The tiny Welsh village school with 62 pupils celebrating its 150th anniversary

Life at Wales' alternative school for children who have never sat an exam