They charge fees of up to £80,000+ and some are among the top schools for results in the UK. Some are non-selective, others pick academic success with scholarships for those who cannot afford to pay - but how do Wales' independent fee paying schools really perform?
Here we take a look at A level results 2024 from Wales' independent schools and how they compare with one another and the Wales average. One private student achieved an astonishing five A*s which may be the best result in Wales.
With The new Labour government announcing VAT on private school fees many will be under pressure. So what do these private day and boarding schools really offer for the price in terms of A level success? - here we take a look.
Read more: Five things this year’s A-level results in Wales tell us – and one thing they don’t
Don't miss: Student picks up highest possible grade two years after emigrating to Wales
Overall A level results for Wales this summer are down with top grades dipping most. That fall was expected as the main exam board used by maintained schools in Wales, the WJEC., returning to pre-pandemic conditions with no extra help for students.
Many independent schools run England's different exam series. With England returned to pre-pandemic exam conditions last year its overall slight rise in top grades was expected, as was the dip in top grades in Wales You can read the details of A level results for Wales here
How the grades compare:
107 students achieved all A*-A grades.
Cathy Lou, from Cardiff, achieved a stunning six A*s in biology, chemistry, physics, maths, further maths and Chinese and has an offer to read medicine at Hong Kong University.
Some 87.5% of all students achieved three or more A grades in this year’s results and 107 students achieved all A*-A grades.
All 12 Oxbridge university offers were met with those students now going on to study a range of subjects including PPE, Medicine, Law, Natural Sciences, Engineering, Physics, French, Mathematics, Human, Social and Political Science, Psychology and Linguistics.
Over half of all students (55%) gained places at Russell Group universities and almost 40% achieved places at the coveted G5 universities – Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, UCL and Imperial College.
Some students have chosen also to study at overseas universities with 80% of all Cardiff Sixth Form College students winning places at the QS Top 100 universities in the world.
“Particular success has been students winning places to study medicine with a quarter of the cohort (26%) going onto study the subject this year. Cardiff helps students prepare extensively for medical careers through their critical thinking, work placement, volunteering and super curricular programme.” Join our WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone
St. Michael’s achieved its best ever A-Level results this week.
Almost all earned a place at their chosen university to study courses such as Medicine, Dentistry, Law, Engineering and Economics.
Some of the university destinations this year include University of Oxford, University of Cambridge,
UCL (University College of London), University of Warwick and Imperial College London.
The most common grade was A* with almost half of students exceeding their predicted A Level grades and 96% of university applicants gaining a place at their first-choice university. 16 departments achieved exclusively A*-B grades. Among successes were two students achieving places at Oxford and Cambridge.
University destinations include Oxford and Durham and UCL .
Christ College Brecon achieved its best ever A level results, which it said are a 20% improvement on last year’s results.
Highlights include:
University destinations include one scholarship student going to Oxford and 70% of students achieving their first-choice university destination, many to prestigious Russell Group destinations, the school said.
University destinations include Edinburgh, Exeter and Cardiff.
The college posted on its social media the following results for A levels 2024:
100% of Year 12 pupils taking A levels a year early got A* or A grades.
University destinations include Cardiff University, Bath,Edinburgh and the Welsh College of Music.
Individual Successes include head boy, Oliver Lloyd, who has a place at Trinity College, Cambridge, with three A* grades, to study Law, with a deferred entry for 2025. Alexander Hicks will also be heading to Cambridge, where he will study Natural Sciences at Robinson College after achieving three A*s and an A. Deputy Head Boy, William Lewis, achieved three A*s and will be reading Natural Sciences at Durham University.
Oliver Edwards will be joining the Royal Navy Aircrew for officer pilot training and Thomas Morgan will start officer training at Sandhurst.
(Comparative figures in brackets are those gained in the 2019 exams)
On top of these grades seven in eight students gained an A grade in their Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) awards.
Llandovery College Warden, Dominic Findlay, said: “Such results are particularly pleasing when WJEC and Qualification Wales have again downgraded national results by some 7%, in their final attempt to return top grades to pre- pandemic pass rates.
“Despite this downgrading our top performing students gained 2A*s and an A, 1A* and 2As, 3As and a B, plus a host of other students achieved a minimum of 2As. This is a fantastic achievement, and we are all so pleased for our leaving Year 13 students.”
“Students have gained places in Russell Group universities, Medical Schools, Performing Arts Courses, the world of professional sport, whilst others have decided to take up apprenticeship opportunities or delay their entrance to university for a year.”
The school didn't share overall results but students have achieved places at universities including Oxford, Imperial, Queen Mary London, Bistol, Birmingham and and Durham. Students are going on to study subjects including medicine, law, economics and a wide range of other subjects.
