On Thursday 17^th September 2026, we held our annual High Achievers’ evening with 45 of our top-achieving pupils attending from Years 10-13. 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 5A*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 188 A* grades and 102 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 and moving onto post-18 opportunities across the UK, including:

• Human, Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cambridge
• Biomedical Engineering at University College London (UCL)
• English at King's College London
• Maths at University College London
• Geography and Sport Science at Loughborough University
• Ancient History at Bristol University
• Diagnostic Radiography at Cardiff University

One of our former Year 13 pupils, Sasha, had already started her Veterinary Medicine degree at the University of Edinburgh, and sent us a video thanking Fitzalan staff and her parents for the unwavering support they had provided her over the years. One of our two highest achievers in Year 13, Alex, had already started his Theoretical Physics degree at Bristol University and sent us some warm works of thanks for the guidance and help he had received from his teachers throughout his time at Fitzalan.

We were also delighted to welcome back former pupil Yousuf Bakshi as our special guest for the evening. Yousuf inspired the audience with his story of his successes since leaving Fitzalan: Harvard, Silicone Valley, the UK government and more! But what was most striking was his message on the importance of failures being an equally important part of his success story. We were very grateful to him for taking the time out of his busy schedule to attend the event.

Throughout the evening, we also had a variety of fantastic musical performances, including Oleksander’s flute solo and Michelle’s piano piece. All our pianists and guitars made the evening even more special and provided the perfect setting for a special event.

Senuth, Year 11

“My name is Senuth, and after completing my first GCSEs at the end of Year 10, achieving six A*s, three As and one B, I was honoured to attend Fitzalan High School's High Achievers’ Evening. It was a wonderful experience to celebrate my achievements alongside my parents, teachers and friends, and receiving my award was a particularly proud moment that stood out very much to me. One of the highlights of the evening was hearing a speech from a former Fitzalan student who later went to study at Harvard, whose story really inspired me to believe that with hard work and great determination, anything can be achieved. The evening later concluded with photographs with my family and fellow award winners, making it one of the most memorable occasions by far.”

 

Sukhraj, Year 12

“I recently attended High Achievers’ Evening which was an event held by the school to celebrate hard work and success. The evening consisted of an award ceremony, many motivational speeches, some musical pieces as well as a tasty buffet. I believe that this evening was an excellent opportunity for students to reflect on our determination but also recognise how far we have come. It was nice to hear from a former Fitzalan student who went on to attended Harvard university. Their story really opened my eyes and inspired me to believe that truly anything is possible if you really work towards it. I also enjoyed seeing everyone celebrating each other's dedication and achievements. Overall, I felt proud and grateful to be part of a lovely evening.”