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City school's Maths cohort have 'historic' A-level results day with 15 A*s
An Oxford school's Maths cohort had a "historic" A-level results day with 15 A*s.
Hundreds of thousands of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their A-level results today (Thursday, August 14).
Students at Oxford Spires Academy, part of the Anthem Schools Trust, celebrated with friends and family as the all-important envelopes were opened.
One runaway success story from this year's cohort was the Maths department, which saw a jaw-dropping 15 A*s across Maths and Further Maths.
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Headteacher Louise Cowley was delighted with the group and described their achievement as "historic".
"Especially with the Further Maths results, the students are competing against really good mathematicians," she said.
"You normally expect one or two A*s in the group, but the fact that the majority of the cohort got A*s is spectacular.
"They must be sitting in the top two per cent of mathematicians in the country.
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Jez Snelson and Daniel Olde Scheper. (Image: Newsquest)
"It's incredible, I don't think there will be many schools that will get as many A*s from Further Maths and Maths.
"The Maths department has been the standout this year, and they're a brilliant group.
"I didn't expect the number of high grades that we got, but we do have an excellent set of teachers who really made the difference.
"Pushing over that threshold to get an A* is really hard to do, so its historic to see this."
Assistant principal and maths teacher, Shazeb Khan, echoed these thoughts on A-level results day.
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Oxford Spires Academy on Glanville Road. (Image: Newsquest)
He said: "It has been really good overall for the school in general, but I'm a Maths teacher, so of course I'm biased towards them!"
"Of our six Further Maths students, four of them got A*s while the other two got A's.
"All of those students got A*s in the normal Maths course, with 11 A*s across the Maths cohort in general."
Among those in the Maths department who shone the brightest were best friends Daniel Olde Scheper and Jez Snelson.
The pair of best friends each took home A*s in both Further Maths and Maths, alongside two further As each in other subjects.
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Daniel Olde Scheper got A*s in Maths and Further Maths. (Image: Newsquest)
Daniel, 18, is planning on studying Computer Science at the University of Southampton.
Jez, also 18, is headed to the University of Warwick for a course in Discrete Mathematics.
Reacting to the high results around at Oxford Spires Academy, David Moran, Interim CEO of Anthem Schools Trust, said: 'Very many congratulations to the Year 13s at Oxford Spires for their success today.
'Students and staff have all worked so hard to get here and should be very proud of the results we have seen.
'We all want to wish our young people the very best in whatever they choose to do next, whether it is higher education, taking up an apprenticeship or starting their career.'
