QE Girls Barnet - Is is really that good?

[barnetparent]

Hi all,

At the risk of sounding stupid, I am a bit lost with figuring out just how well QE Girls school performs in relation to A levels.

I have read many articles stating they are in the top 1% nationally for GSCE performance, but that's with Value Added scores.

According to QE website, A level results 2019, there were 203 A level exams taken.
24 achieved A* or A (8.5% of the total)
79 achieved A*-B (39%)
158 achieved A*-C (78%)

They are decent results! But it does not tell me how many pupils sat the exams, nor if those pupils joined from another school.

My daughter has a place in QE, and I'm trying to gauge how well they perform at A Levels. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I find the best way to ascertain this is by knowing the number of pupils who took A Levels working out a percentage from the respective results.

Thanks in advance

I don't know anything about the numbers. I do know that a pretty ambitious, high acheiving type family I know sent one of their girls there as first choice, so they must have been pretty happy with it

What are your alternatives?

The GCSE results are truly impressive for a non-selective school that is in a normal urban area.
One challenge that QEG will have is that the excellent Woodhouse College may be hoovering up 16 year old girls who want a mixed, more college like environment.
I always think that GCSE should be the focus because you can't tell who has joined or left at A levels as you say. I doubt there are many joining QEG at that point when there are more obviously alternatives at 16+.

Their 2019 Leavers Destinations www.qegschool.org.uk/page/?title=Results+and+Destinations&pid=315 (scroll to the pdf at the bottom of the page) are to be blunt hardly inspiring . Likewise the actual A level results profile..........well the number of D and E grades comfortably exceeds the A* and As. Unless there is of course another QE Girls in Barnet?

Those results are well below national average - Nationally 26% of results were A-A, and 53% A-B.

I don't know very much about QEGS, aside from the fact I do know people who are considering moving house for it (not necessary with our more local secondary options IMO, but that's not really relevant here) BUT clearly the GCSE results and progress are absolutely stellar, with a very normal London cohort as regards prior attainment/EAL/ pupil premium kids. No covert selection here it seems.

The A level progress score for last year was still very good (0.26), but it's striking that only 65 girls took A levels, less than half the number that did GCSEs in the same year. So as PP said, it's impossible to say what the situation is with their 6th form without asking around locally/ asking the school itself. Barnet has a hugely competitive school environment with high levels of selection, both open and not, and Woodside is a destination for children from a wide catchment.

@barnetparent I know you've posted about this school before, and sure you are still considering your options, but in your position I'd be grabbing a Y7 place with both hands. So many kids move for A levels anyway, and a lot can change in 5 years.