In an outstanding year of results Castell Alun High School has not only seen its students accept places on traditional top university courses, but also had a number of hard-working, gifted young adults accepted for degree level apprenticeships, with many others taking up places on diverse niche courses or moving into employment around Great Britain.

In a bumper year, 38% of all grades awarded at A level were at A* – A. Furthermore, from a truly comprehensive open Sixth Form intake, 65% of grades were awarded at A* – B. 84% of all A level grades came between A*– C grades. The Castell Alun Sixth Form will once again be a force to be reckoned with next year, with exceptionally strong outcomes anticipated at GCSE and massive interest shown from students in other schools. 

Castell Alun proudly announced the successes of every student in their cohort. At the very pinnacle of academic performance, 5 students were awarded 4 A* grades each, with a further 6 students securing a wonderful 3 A* grade and further A grades.

Abigail Bartlett, James Cotter, Sophie Keenan, Mia O’Brian and Archie Peffers each achieved a whopping 4 A* grades. Jamie Austen, Niah Bradley, Harry Bithell, Ruben Easedale, Reuben Rees-Slawson and Mischa Williams were the worthy recipients of a wonderful 3 A*, along with a raft of further top grades.

Niah Bradley (Cardiff), Sophie Keenan (Cardiff), James Cotter (Liverpool) and Ruben Easedale (Exeter) will all now go on to read Medicine. Archie Peffers will take up a place at Cambridge to read Veterinary Science. Abigail Bartlett has accepted her offer to read Biochemistry at Bath and Mia O’ Brian will study Chemistry at Edinburgh. Harry Bithell (International Business with German at Bath), Jamie Austen (Politics and International Relations at Warwick), Reuben Rees-Slawson (Physiotherapy at Southampton) and Mischa Williams (gap year and then Philosophy and Theology at Bristol) were all justifiably thrilled with their results and resulting universities and cities of their choice.

Furthermore, a number of Castell Alun students will now embark upon degree level apprenticeships as a direct result of their fine academic and practical performances. Chris Mills and Maddie Owen have accepted a degree level Data Analysis apprenticeship with Lloyd’s Bank, and Archie Ricketts will soon begin his degree level apprenticeship in Business Management. Emilia Mandyna has achieved her grades for the degree level apprenticeship in Accountancy.

After highly successful participation in the Youth Commonwealth Games held in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the European Trophy in Poland, where she represented Wales Under 18 Girls in Rugby and Rugby 7s, Poppy Ellis is now set to pursue a degree in Sport and Exercise Science at Cardiff University.

Asst. Headteacher and Sixth Form Director, Mr Kevin Davies, commented, “What a wonderful year! I could not be prouder of these students. Obviously today we celebrate academic success, and rightly so, but there is so much more to each of them than A level grades indicate. We are thrilled that our students have taken the next steps to living their dreams through the education they have had with us, but we are equally happy that they have become engaging, rounded individuals, who will contribute effectively to the future of our country as really good people.”

Headteacher, Mr Colin Ellis, remarked, “This is a fantastic achievement for all concerned with Castell Alun. We are delighted for all our students and acknowledge the significant contributions of our primary schools, who also played a pivotal role in these accomplishments. Our Sixth Form continues to flourish and we are truly indebted to all parents and staff who have tirelessly supported these young people in achieving such great results. Our most grateful thanks today however, go perhaps to Mr Kevin Davies, our Sixth Form lead, who retires after 42 years of highly distinguished service. He has had a massively positive influence on a great many students through the years and is, quite simply, a Castell Alun living legend.”

Students at Castell Alun returned wonderful GCSE results again this year. There was great celebration amongst many families early on Thursday morning as results were released.

At the stunning peak of overall academic performance, Natasha Boleyn and Joshua Williamson now count a stunning 13 A*s to their names. Eleri Devine scooped a whopping haul of 12 A* grades and Max Chadwick produced a haul of 11A*s. Euan Macaskill returned 10A*s with Michael Collis, Darcey Griffiths, Isabella Williams and Freya Willis each being awarded 9A* grades.

Further absolutely tremendous top end personal performances were achieved by Georgia Jones, Isaac Povey, Samuel Turner, and Leah Williams, who scored 8A* or 7A* grades each, plus multiple other grades of which to be proud. A number of students have grades yet to be confirmed also, and so tallies are likely to rise further!

Worthy of special mention was Kateryna Yefremova, who started her education in Wales in September 2022. Kateryna joined Castell Alun from the Ukraine at the start of Year 11 and demonstrated a superb work ethic from her first day. Despite the language challenge she committed herself wholeheartedly to her studies and today gained an A* in Maths and a collection of many other A and B grades.