Academic Report ....................................................................................................................
Alasdair Kennedy Deputy Master Academic t: +44 (0)20 8299 9261 e: kennedyajs @ dulwich.org.uk
own academic research beyond A level; service to the community; and preparation for life beyond school. In 2013-14 the Diploma was awarded for the third time to boys leaving the Upper Sixth, with nearly 96% of the year group achieving it. We are determined that learning should not be constrained by syllabuses or subject boundaries while pupils are at the College. One of the best examples of this is the Upper School Symposium day, held for the fifth time in October 2014 on the theme ‘Power’. Speakers included comedian Jo Brand, who demonstrated with frankness and humour her deeply-held beliefs about the importance of challenging prejudice, pride and power in the world around us. Political cartoonist Martin Rowson discussed a range of his satirical work, revealing the ways in which it taunts and teases the establishment, providing a caustic and irreverent challenge to power in its many guises. Poet Chris McCabe read a selection of his work, which provided a thought-provoking commentary on the power of the media and literature. Staff also led seminars, ranging from the power of gold and a session on solar power, to power narratives in the paintings of Edward Hopper, while two Upper School boys, Jakob Hedberg and Ed McNamara, led a workshop on the power of physical theatre. Society life is also thriving: the History, Politics, Economics and Physics societies lead the way in terms of numbers, with up to 50 boys attending each week, but the Literary, Geography, Lower School Science Society and Biology societies, among others, are also firmly established as events where boys can listen and engage with some of the best thinkers that London can offer, or with the work of their peers. Our debaters had something of an annus mirabilis , winning every major school competition in the UK before taking the world crown in Thailand in the summer. In other competitions, one boy qualified for the British Linguistics Olympiad teams, and like last year there were gold medals (top 50 in the UK) in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.
The academic life of the College is vibrant and continues to improve. We are intentionally broad in our measures of intellectual success; examination results matter greatly of course, but deeper learning takes place away from the syllabus, and it is in this area that our pupils’ energy and expertise are growing, and from which excellent undergraduates, employees and leaders are emerging. A level results were good, with just under 90% of the almost 700 results being A*, A or B grades. More than a quarter of entries achieved an A*, close to our best results since the introduction of the top grade. Results at GCSE were by some margin our best on record, with 55% of examinations being awarded an A* and 87% reaching A or A*. GCSEs taken early by Year 10 pupils were close to last summer’s exceptional results, with 92% of entries in Mathematics, Languages and Latin awarded an A* grade. We are confident that this is more evidence of the academic strength coming through the College in the next few years, which will lead to greater A level and university success. In terms of university entry, it was a good year and similar to previous years. Twenty-two pupils (10% of the year group) received Oxbridge offers, with 18 of these boys having come through the Lower and Middle Schools. Places were split evenly across the Arts and Sciences, with five places awarded in Biology or Medicine. Overall, more than 80% of boys made it to their first or second choice university, nearly all at Russell Group institutions. The Dulwich Diploma, in its third year, captures what we believe a Dulwich education should be, with its three core elements of: academic study, including a piece of the boys’
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