Caxton College: International Academic Recognition

Four Sixth Form students at Caxton College received an Outstanding Learner Award from the examination board Pearson for having the highest marks in Europe, in the world and in Spain in A Level exams for entrance to university.

This prestigious exam board, which sets and evaluates external exams that students sit at British schools all over the world, published results several months ago in which it was very striking that four students from the same cohort at Caxton College were awarded the highest international and national results in A Level exams. All of the students felt very pleased and proud of this unexpected and motivating recognition. Specifically, Pilar Guerrero, who is currently studying a degree in Data Analytics with Business Administration at IE University in Madrid, achieved the highest mark in Europe in her Business exam. Sara de Santos, who is studying Medicine at the University of Valencia, was awarded highest mark in Europe in her Psychology exam. Ofelia Pascual, who is also in her first year of Medicine at the same university, achieved the highest mark in Spain in Chemistry. And lastly, Inés Lluch, who is enrolled in International Business in England, had the highest mark in the world in her French exam.

These students believe that their excellent results were not by chance, but rather the result of having studied in an educational system that motivated them to work constantly to improve. ‘The school always encouraged us to give the best of ourselves, not to be content with simply passing our subjects and always to strive for excellence. These are the values that they have always worked to instil in us at Caxton College’, said Ofelia Pascual. This style of learning stays with students for life, said Ofelia, because ‘in the first term of Medicine, I got firsts in five subjects. The skill that I have found most useful has been understanding how to apply my knowledge and relate different concepts. It’s important to understand what you’re studying. This skill is taught very well at Caxton and it’s much more useful than knowing how to memorise. The practical approach to lessons helped me to visualise everything better and understand the concepts that we were learning’.

Pilar Guerrero corroborates her classmate’s comments. ‘Caxton instilled a strong work ethic and provided a solid education that has allowed me to achieve the best results’, she said. ‘Having the opportunity to study subjects like Computer Science and Business in Secondary and the Sixth Form has given me an excellent foundation for my degree, and I’ve had a really positive start to my university studies because of my solid knowledge of the basic concepts, which some of my university classmates didn’t have’.

Teachers, another key element

All four of these exceptional students agreed that their teachers played a crucial role in their achievement of these excellent results on an international level. ‘I think that the curriculum offered by Caxton was a real advantage. The learning environment and the emotional support offered by teachers are also necessary for good results’, said Inés Lluch, who is studying at the University of Exeter in the UK. Along these same lines, Sara de Santos said she also feels that ‘teachers help you throughout your A Levels to make sure you understand all of the concepts in depth and are as prepared as possible. I particularly appreciated my Psychology teacher’s support in providing study materials and making herself available to answer any queries’.

Advice for other students

With these outstanding results, the students shared some points that they believe were very important to their success and that may be helpful for other students sitting these exams. ‘If I had to give one piece of advice’, said Pilar Guerrero, ‘I would tell them to be optimists and believe in themselves. Perseverance is what will help them the most. Sometimes it’s difficult, but making your best effort in the last year of the Sixth Form is crucial, will yield its results and allow you to gain a place in your first choice of degree programme and start it with a solid knowledge base’. Sara de Santos said, ‘I would recommend that students pay close attention in lessons and take good notes of everything the teacher says, because the teachers are wonderful and will give you all of the information you need to get good marks’.

This British school in Puçol, just fifteen minutes from Valencia, feels very honoured to have such a significant number of students with superb results in exams taken by a large number of students around the world. ‘We have congratulated these students and their families for this spectacular achievement. With these successes, we can see that the dedication to each of our students, right from when they start in Early Years, brings its reward in the future’, said Amparo Gil, Principal of Caxton College.