New term following a successful summer for Christ College Brecon

IT might be one of the UK’s oldest education establishments, but leading independent school Christ College Brecon is very much focused on the future, embracing the new style of GCSEs and A-levels and opening its first overseas campus.

Unlike most Welsh schools and colleges, Christ College decided, against a background of uncertainty, to introduce the new linear A-levels and GCSEs, to ensure that its pupils were able to compete against others at the highest level. The move was a success and pupils excelled in both.

At A-level one in five grades was A* and the overall pass rate reached an impressive 98%, with 46% of grades being A*/A; 70% of grades being A*-B. Following these results, many pupils will now proceed to top universities including Oxford.There was an overall pass rate of 94% at GCSEs, which are now graded 9-1 with grade 9 classified as a super ** grade and 8 as the old A*. This cohort achieved 31% at grades 8 or 9, and 52% of all grades were 7,8 and 9.

Head of Christ College, Gareth Pearson, said: “I am delighted that the hard work by our pupils has been rewarded with some excellent grades. Despite the more rigorous GCSE and A-level programmes our pupils continued to excel, as we felt confident they would.”

Following this success, in September Christ College officially opened its first overseas sister school, as pupils in Malaysia were welcomed to King Henry VIII College in Cyberjaya, near Kuala Lumpur, within the Malaysian global tech hub.

Founded in 1541 by Henry VIII, Christ College is renowned, not only for its academic excellence, but also for its unique atmosphere and proactive take on pastoral care. The new King Henry VIII College Malaysia will emulate the longstanding Christ College Brecon model, with a mix of boarding and day school students, complemented by nursery and reception classes, as well as a small sixth-form offering.

Gareth Pearson said: “Less than two years ago the site of King Henry VIII College was jungle and we only cleared the site for the ground-breaking ceremony and construction on March 1 last year. We all look forward to maintaining excellent links between our two schools, in all aspects of school life, not least cultural exchanges and shared learning experiences.”

Set within the Brecon Beacons National Park, Christ College is an independent co-educational boarding and day school, with 370 pupils on roll between the ages of seven and 18. With strong academic provision at its core, the school provides high-quality, broad and balanced education, in a friendly, nurturing atmosphere. These successful results follow the recent ‘excellent’ Estyn inspection of Christ College. The school achieved the highest score possible in all five areas of judgement: standards; wellbeing and attitude to learning; teaching and learning experiences; care, support and guidance; and leadership and management.

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