Any insight into why LEH's A Level results plummeted this year?

If they have more candidates with the required predicted grades (or entrance exam results) than places available they need to choose between them somehow, so they try to make sure they are recruiting from a range of backgrounds.

It's also partly because they know that students who have done well in tougher circumstances are a better bet. They have achieved something more difficult and have demonstrated desirable qualities that DC from more privileged backgrounds haven't.

I think some people need to stop making excuses for these results. It is fee paying school and they have to produce results and they simply didn’t. There are also 20 girls who are waiting to go next year as they obviously didn’t get the grades. I find it hard to believe all of them decided to take a year off. It looks like that they lost their space. The excuse that top universities do not take from private schools or LEH is too posh is rubbish as kings, Hampton, spgs or St. Paul’s university destinations have not changed this year with still high intake to top universities.

Also, Katharine Birbalsingh, the head of MCS, it is a nonselective school, when her school have good GCSE years the school publish the GCSE result right away but somehow not this year? She start criticize other schools?

They may officially be non-selective, but everything about it, from the teaching style to the uniform and behaviour policies would put off many local families. It’s designed for tiger-parented children, and does very well for them, but it’s not a non-selective school in any real sense. And their selective sixth form has higher entry requirements than most top independent schools.

All of the competitive unis look at contextual factors. If they have more candidates with the required predicted grades (or entrance exam results) than places available they need to choose between them somehow, so they try to make sure they are recruiting from a range of backgrounds. They know some young people change school at 16+ so they look at the bigger picture, including where they did their GCSEs.

Typical a few factors,

The school ur DC did GCSE, what is the attainment performance of that school (nothing about fee paying vs state - selective grammar and private, good comprehensive will be in the same bucket, low performing school is on the other)

where your DC live, postcode area of the neighbourhood, what is the social demographic how many people has degree level education etc.

if your DC had eligible for FSM since age 11.
if your DC has experience in care someone else.

Just Oxbridge or more than that?

Universities look at where applicants did their GCSE's, not their A Levels. They're not daft.

@lanthanum , LEH don't do this but a significant percentage join at age 7 so are assessed when they are in year 2 to join the school. The drop is more likely to be a weaker then normal cohort / complacent teaching. As others have said the gcse results this year are exceptional, 56% of all grades were a 9, 82% 8-9 (75% at Putney high).

I don't know about this school, but some schools don't let their students stay into the sixth form if they don't perform sufficiently well at GCSE. Of course, this cohort didn't do externally-assessed GCSEs, so that weeding out may not have happened - it's rather harder to justify turning them down without that external assessment.

.... goes on to research Feltham College....

I wish we did not have to "think" about the private secondary option.

How Oxbridge admissions purposely disadvantage applicants from private schools is simply destroying the country.

The university entrance in terms of "contextual offering" will had little preference on where the applicant did their sixth form college. It general look at where the applicant live in the past x years, where they completed their GCSE. So in general speaking a above average state comp school student who live in Richmond will not have any benifit from contextual offering at all, same as a Private school student who live in Richmond but do sixth form in Feltham.

"why were so many students predicted top grades...and disappointed? If they were lower ability, then they should've been predicted lower and more realistic grades surely...?"

How do you know LEH have "so many students predicted top grades?"

Grade prediction always subject to margin of errors. All I know is this year a lot of schools (private and state) over predict the grades in general.

Oxbridge

Grades achieved are 'an advert/selling point' or whatever terminology one would want to use for a school. I'm not suggesting a literal advertisement! Private schools are businesses after all and must be acutely aware that top grades are a key requirement for their stakeholders and will keep their business model going.

I can't imagine that the cohort was anything but high ability. And if it wasn't high ability then why were so many students predicted top grades...and disappointed? If they were lower ability, then they should've been predicted lower and more realistic grades surely...?

"The argument that it's more about ability than the school doesn't make a great advert for the school!"

Why would one make advert for the school? It is true for every single school.

How do you know they have a high ability intake for last sixth form?

The argument that it's more about ability than the school doesn't make a great advert for the school! But surely the intake for this last A level cohort was high ability? Girls were predicted high grades and lost Uni places due to lower than predicted results - see previous poster who's dd achieved A star x 2 + 1 x C - I imagine she was a 'high ability' student) So either the school was in denial and should have predicted lower grades, or the student was capable of all top grades, but something went wrong...

Hooray, I am impressed. Her is hoping all the little LEH girls end up at Feltham Sixth Form. LEH and Hampton are geographically closer to Felthan than Richmond. It is a really great idea and excellent preparation for Uni entrance. Feltham College will truly be mixed and not at all exclusive

Academic results are more to do with intake ability than the education resource provided by the School. It is not a game of the more money you paid the better grade you get...

If parents want exclusive then LEH is that in buckets but is not achieving the academic results it should for the fees it charges.

https://www.lehs.org.uk/about/public-benefit-provision

You can check yourself, it is online.

I think it’s also just a hangover of its old reputation. I grew up in the area and it was known as the school for posh, rich but dim girls back then (80s/90s). I’m sure that’s not the case now though (no idea as I neither live in that area nor send my DC private)

Is LEH in anyway altruistic? Does it provide summer schools or coaching for state school students in robotics? Doe it provide GCSE and A level coaching for local state schools?
It prides itself on being exclusive. It's intake is diverse in terms of race but not in terms of class. It is like Rishi Sunak and Winchester. Independent schools love wealthy parents but LEH like other independent schools does not do enough for the local community. It does not deserve to retain charitable status

It is not "crack down" or any kind of force isn't it? It just provides with more support with those who needed most to create a fair playing field.

It does loads of good and a change of government will take this much further. There is talk that a Labour Government will outlaw independent schools having charity status. . The cost of private schools will go up and access to top universities will become more competitive for them.
This is going back a while but my niece was at a struggling inner city comp. Eton school provided summer schools and coaching to help her get a place at Oxford. Eton school is providing a non fee paying, selective school in the North of England. They are very keen to be seen as altruistic but I think any future Labour Government will crack down on schools like LEH