Pupils at King Alfred School Academy celebrate A-level results

They are now planning their next steps, which will see many embark on the university adventure or begin their careers as apprentices.

Students took formal exams for the first time since 2019 due to the impact of the pandemic on education.

Principal Dan Milford said: “Our Year 13 students at TKASA have been amazing over the past two years under incredibly difficult and challenging circumstances.

“The work ethic, resilience and courage they have shown has been inspiring and it was great to see them at school today collecting their results and now preparing for the next steps in their lives.

“We are incredibly proud of all of them.”Jamie with academy director Dan Milford.

The academy’s top performer was Jamie Raynard, who earned two A* ratings and two Aces.

Jamie, a former pupil of Weston-super-Mare at Priory Community School Academy, joined the sixth form of King Alfred at the end of year 11.

He is now set to study physics at the University of Warwick.

Other students to excel were Evie Skinner (A*, A, distinction*), Grace Huggins (A*, A, A), Anya Snowball (A*, A, A) and Erin Murray (A, A, distinction*) .

“The work ethic, resilience and courage they have shown has been inspiring.”

Erin will now study clinical psychology at Plymouth University.

She said: “Doing psychology at King Alfred’s really fired me up and catalyzed me to do psychology further. I liked it so much.

Anya said she was “very happy” with her results, which will allow her to study English and film at the University of Sussex.

Grace will study at King’s College London at the start of the new academic year.

Across the country, A-level grades were down from pandemic highs, when students were assessed by their teachers, but were above 2019 levels.

University admissions have also fallen from a year ago, but are the second highest on record, according to Ucas figures.