Pic 1: Council leader Catherine West witnesses jubilation at Central Foundation Boys’ School as students
Pic 2: St Aloysius’ College students celebrate their success
Pic 3: Higbury Fields School head Gladys Berry with Janna Aldaraji, Bercan Korkmaz, Fatima Abba Abdullahi and Demi Boezalt
Pic 4: Highbury Grove’s Lawrence Sarpong, Lauren Price, Cyan Koay, Fatos Nacakgedigi, Annie Dam, Emre Cakmak, Roukaya Hosney, Daniel Avanzi, Brook Tewelde, Daniel Luby and Angelika Sedlak
Pic 5: Isaac Baden Powell, from Archway, is to study Latin and philosophy
Pic 6: Sadie Levy Gale
Pic 7: Highbury Grove head Truda White with Cyan Koay, who is bound for Oxford

Published: 17 August, 2012
by PETER GUNER, CATHERINE ETOE and ALICE HUTTON

STUDENTS in Islington  celebrated a 99 per cent pass rate in A-levels for the third year running, it was revealed this week.

For the Sixth Form Consortium, 67 per cent of exam entries were A*-C grades, while 41 per cent were A*-B grades.

The consortium is made up of students from Central Foundation Boys’ School, Highbury Fields, St Aloysius’ College and Highbury Grove schools. Each of the schools has individually achieved a 98 per cent or higher pass rate.

At St Aloysius, where girls were introduced to the sixth form just two years ago, Catherine Balanta, 18, from Archway, got three straight As and wins a place at East London university to study architecture.

At the same school, Zak Erreg is celebrating after he achieved two As and a B in his A-levels, earning his place at Imperial College to study chemical engineering.

At Highbury Grove School, Cyan Koay has secured a place at Oxford University to read music after only taking up lessons aged 13. She gained three A grades in maths, music and Spanish in her A-levels.

Daniel Luby similarly achieved three straight As in government and politics, economics and English and will study philosophy at Durham University.

Highbury Fields School is delighted to have achieved a 100 per cent pass rate for the third year running.  

Among the high fliers is Bercan Korkmaz, 19, who will study sociology at Sussex University after gaining an A, two Bs and a C in her A-levels. “I missed an A grade by a mark,” she said. “But I’m so happy.”

Demi Boezalt, 18, achieved two B grades and a C and hopes to study education but she is taking a year out to work in the Arsenal FC shop before taking up her university place. “I’m very happy, I’ve worked very hard for two years,” she said.

Janna Aldaraji, 18, will take up a place at Sussex University after attaining three Bs.

She said: “It was the hardest year of my life and I’m so pleased that it’s done now and I know that I’m going to be able to go to university.”

Another star performer was Fatima Abba Abdullahi, 18, who was awarded three distinctions and will study business information systems at Westminster University. “It’s been hard but it is worth it in the end,” she said.

At Central Foundation, there were a number of individual success stories to celebrate alongside the overall 100 per cent pass rate. Sumit Paul gave up his own spare time throughout his school career to mentor Year-11s in art and maths.

After achieving an A in maths, B in physics and C in chemistry in his A-levels, he can now look forward to studying mechanical engineering at his first choice, Loughborough University.

Sumit will be joined at Loughborough by fellow student Bipul Deb, who achieved an A* in maths, an A in chemistry and a B in biology and will study chemical engineering.

Shahdyad Khan will be heading to Bristol University to study economics with his A-level results of A* in economics, B in history and A* in maths.  

Leader of Islington Council, Cllr Catherine West, congratulated students at Central Foundation Boys’ School yesterday.

At Camden School for Girls, Sadie Levy Gale, 18, from Holloway, will study English at Wadham College, Oxford University, after gaining two A*s and one A in English, history of art and history.

She said: “I’m really shocked, to be honest. And just so, so happy. These kinds of results are just a dream. I’m really looking forward to going to Oxford.”

Fellow pupil Isaac Baden Powell, also 18, from Archway, will study Latin and philosophy at Leeds University. He achieved an A*, A and B in English, Latin and history.

He told the Tribune: “It was definitely nerve-racking coming in today. I was a bit annoyed about the B in history but generally I am pleased with what I got.”

St Mary Magdalene Academy in Holloway recently celebrated its examination results for sixth-form students studying the International Baccalaureate Diploma (IBD). The overall pass rate was 92 per cent, compared to 78 per cent nationally for the IBD.

Top student Daniel Bergicourt, achieved an incredible 43 points out of a maximum of 45, the equivalent of five A* passes at A-level.

City and Islington College celebrated the best A-level results in its history.

The overall pass rate was an impressive 99.1 per cent from 1,646 entries, a brilliant achievement for an inner London College.

Of the 99.1 per cent, 73 per cent achieved grades A* - C, and just under half of all entries achieved grades A* - B.

These results have seen students accepted onto courses at Oxford University and other prestigious universities around the UK to study course such as medicine, history, economics and engineering.

Islington’s Information, Advice and Guidance team is on hand to help students who want to discuss their next steps.

The team’s personal advisers will be out and about in schools, colleges and youth centres to provide advice on college courses, apprenticeships, job opportunities, CV writing and interview skills.

Details of sessions can be found at www.islington.gov.uk/connexions or by calling 020 7527 7031.