Times Top 500 schools at A level
A PIONEERING school that chose to take the International Baccalaureate instead of A levels eight years ago has topped The Times’s state schools list for the first time.
With 496 Ucas points, the 73 students at Hockerill Anglo-European College in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire, beat their nearest rivals by more than 50 points.
The school’s impressive results come after the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (Ucas) ruled last month that the top international baccalaureate scores would be worth the equivalent of six A grades at A level and one A grade at AS.
Two of the 72 students worldwide who scored the highest possible 45 points are from Hockerill’s. Robert Guthrie, the head teacher, is proud.
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“For a state comprehensive to average four A grades at A level, with two getting the maximum total, we’re obviously thrilled,” Dr Guthrie said. “And the fact that Ucas has recognised the qualification means it will obviously now become more part of the national consciousness than before.”
The key, Dr Guthrie believes, is not to be “everything to all people”. At the same time, Hockerill’s unique approach to teaching GCSE geography and history in French and German means that it attracts excellent bilingual teachers.
As a result, the specialist music college, one of few state boarding schools in England, is eight times over-subscribed.
The International Baccalaureate — for which students study six subjects, complete a theory of knowledge course, write a 4,000-word essay and do community service — has been growing in popularity.
More than 32,000 children take the Swiss-run diploma worldwide, including pupils at 100 schools in England. Advocates say that it offers a more challenging course than the traditional three A levels.
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With one in ten pupils achieving three A grades at A level, the international baccalaureate is likely to become more popular as universities struggle to differentiate between the very brightest and the merely bright.