On Thursday 18^th September 2025, we held our annual High Achievers’ evening with 40 of our top-achieving pupils attending from Years 10-11. It was truly uplifting to start the academic year celebrating the successes of our pupils with parents, local councillors, governors and representatives from Welsh government.

Selecting the award winners was not an easy task; there were many pupils who achieved outstanding results in the summer. The bar was set really high, with our Year 11 awards winners needing to have secured at least 7A*s to be invited to the evening, our Year 12 pupils at least 3 A grades at AS level and our Year 13 pupils at least 1A* and 2 A grades at A level. Amongst our high achievers at the evening, we had an outstanding 164 A* grades and 116 A grades!

It was inspiring for our younger pupils to hear the different pathways chosen by some of our Year 13 pupils on completing their A levels: universities across the UK (Swansea University, Manchester University, Liverpool University, UCL, Cardiff University, Bath University, Oxford University and Exeter University) and a range of subjects represented (Pharmacy, Engineering, Medicine, Law and Economics). One of our former Year 13 pupils, Paluck Bhandari, had already started her Law studies degree at Oxford University, and sent us a video from the Great Library at New College, thanking Fitzalan staff and her parents for the unwavering support they had provided her over the years.

We were also delighted to welcome Mrs Kemp as our special guest for the evening. She worked with many pupils over the years to support them achieving their goals and aspirations for further study. She also first established the High Achievers’ Evening, and its success has continued to grow.

Katie Smith, Year 13:

“I attended the High Achievers for the first time with my mum, and it was a really lovely evening for myself and my classmates to have recognition for our achievements and to come together to celebrate our hard work. The evening was really well organised with an amazing selection of food and being able to hear some great performances from the younger years. It really made me feel valued and makes me want to work even harder for this year.”

Freya Acquaah, Year 12:

“Last week I was given the wonderful opportunity to attend the High Achievers’ Evening, an event organised to recognise the achievements of pupils who achieved the top end of results in their GSCEs or A-levels. It was such an amazing opportunity to recognise just how much effort went into achieving those results and to celebrate those achievements with others. 

There was plenty of food and drinks to go around (which definitely went down well), along with some of our own students showcasing their musical talents by performing and even an appearance from Mrs Kemp, who despite leaving Fitzalan last year, attended the evening being the original organiser of the High Achievers’ Evening. 

Every student was individually congratulated with the listing of their grades before we were handed our award by the councillors where we even received gift cards as part of the awards. One thing that stood out to me the most was the atmosphere of celebrating mine and my peers’ achievements due to all the hard work we put in for the past two years. 

The evening ended with the two highest achievers receiving their awards from Mrs Kemp and overall, the evening was a great experience that I hope I get invited to again next year as celebrating everyone’s achievements with the other students and staff was a rewarding opportunity.”