From the Comet: August 15, 2003.

Two years of hard work, revision, panic, and waiting were all over as Kingston’s A-level students celebrated another round of top-class results.

Students confirmed that borough schools are among the best in the country, with an overall pass rate of 97 per cent.

Tiffin Girls’ School was the only Kingston school to achieve 100 per cent pass rate this year, but most schools showed an overall improvement.

The national pass rate improved for the 21st year in a row, up to 95.4 per cent, but the usual claims that the exams were getting easier were shrugged off by students and teachers.

Pauline Cox, headteacher at Tiffin Girls’ School, said teaching methods were better, students worked harder, and the results reflected everybody’s efforts.

Her girls scored A grades in 58.8 per cent of their exams, making it the best in the borough again.

She said: “A-levels are not easier, they are different. There are 364 other days in the year you can say that, so why say it on this one day?

"I wish we could go a year without people saying they are getting easier. Everyone here has worked really hard for their results.

"We are very pleased and proud of all of our students and the pass rate is up on last year.”

Tiffin Boys’ School assistant headteacher John King disagreed with the argument that pupils were taking easier subjects like psychology and media studies over science and maths.

He said: “We take a large number of exams in maths, further maths, chemistry and physics. We had one of the largest physics entries in the country.

“Our results overall from A to C are down slightly from last year, but they are still very good.”

Students at Kingston Grammar School scored A grades in 53.8 per cent of their exams compared with 38 per cent last year.

A remarkable 23 out of 82 students got straight As with Anna Colclough, Meera Gupta, Sam Kitchen, Ashley Sasportas and school captain Natalie Wilkins getting four each.

Got memories of the borough you want to share? Email newsdesk@surrey comet.co.uk.

 

50 YEARS AGO: August 17, 1963 Twenty residents of a newly-completed block of flats invited the mayor of Kingston and his wife to tea in their communal lounge.

The tea reception for Councillor and Mrs W J Marshall, at 33 Gloucester Road, was organised by housing committee chairman Miss D Tapping.

Council officers connected with the project were also invited.

25 YEARS AGO: August 19, 1988 Angry nurses threatened strike action.

Morale among nurses was low following disagreements over pay and clinical issues.

Jan Monkley, district convener for the Royal College of Nursing, said: “We are extremely cheesed off about the whole thing. We feel that nurses are being put on grades which are too low.”

10 YEARS AGO: August 15, 2003 Kingston’s emergency services battled a heatwave this week 10 years ago.

Paramedics saw a 34 per cent rise in calls to patients who had fainted, while firefighters had to deal with a grass fire the size of two football pitches in Tolworth.

The RSPCA saw a jump in the number of dogs trapped in hot cars.