Friday 13 February 2015 Sixth form students at The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) have continued the impressive success rate of their predecessors in securing offers from Oxford and Cambridge universities. 14 current pupils are holding conditional offers from Oxbridge colleges, while a further three students who left GSAL in 2014 have received offers after making the grade in last year’s A-levels. Teacher Ray Peacock is GSAL’s Oxbridge coordinator. He said: “We’re delighted with the 17 Oxbridge offers at GSAL, equalling last year’s school record! “It’s a demanding application process that has become increasingly competitive in recent years. We offer a comprehensive programme of support in school, to help students demonstrate their passion for their chosen subjects on their UCAS personal statement, hone their independent thinking skills in preparation for the interview and prepare for specific admissions tests. While the candidates engaged fully with our programme it is ultimately their own commitment and hard work that secured these sought after offers, and we are hugely proud of their success.” Nine current students are holding offers from Cambridge colleges. They are Daniel Drazen for natural sciences at Queens’ College, Megan Gilbert for English and drama in education at Clare College, Amol Joshi for medicine at Emmanuel College, Michael McLeish for human, social and political sciences at Pembroke College, Marcus Roberts for mathematics at Trinity College, Amy Smith for architecture at Jesus College, Ashwin Venkatesh for medicine at St John’s College, Daniel Voice for economics at Gonville and Caius College, and Tom Whittaker for English literature at Pembroke College. Aiming for Oxford subject to this year’s A-levels are Adam Bush for engineering at Keble College, Jeremy Huitson for law at Corpus Christi, Josephine Pepper for biochemistry at Brasenose, Katherine Pye for history and politics at Magdalen College and Jemma Silvert for psychology and philosophy, also at Magdalen. Three students who left GSAL last year have also achieved offers – Thomas Davidson is heading for Cambridge University, while Jack Baillie and Louis Walker are holding offers from Oxford University. General Sixth Form News
