A-level results day: Joy for pupils in UAE as schools secure best grades yet

At one school in the UAE, half of the graduating class has offers from universities to study medicine

Pupils receive their A-level results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis. All photos: Chris Whiteoak / The National

Kathryn Warner, right, receives her results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Pupils receive their A-level results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Eliana Antoniou opens her A-level results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Zahaa Naseer checks her results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Pupils collect their exam results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Amy Mellor checks her A-level results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Noor Eltarib opens the envelope containing her A-level results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

From left, Kai-Yang Lee, Mariyam Afreen, Ibrahim Vijdani and Hibba Ahsan at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

From left, Zahaa Naseer and Abigail Bailey hug each other at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Soraya Hassan is among pupils receiving their results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Pupils receive their A-level results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Ashlie Rowe receives her A-level results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Dhiya Ehsan beams after opening her A-level results

From left, Zahaa Naseer, Angelina Somaiya and Kathryn Warner discuss their A-level results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Mohamed Ahad Ahmed with his mother at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Hibba Ahsan celebrates her A-level results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Pupils receive their A-level results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis.

Pupils receive their A-level results at Gems Wellington Academy, Dubai Silicon Oasis

Arham Rakecha, an 18-year-old British pupil at the British School Al Khubairat, celebrates gaining two A*s and an A grade in his A-levels with his family. Photo: Arham Rakecha

Osama El Boraie, an 18-year-old Egyptian pupil at Brighton College Abu Dhabi, got three A*s and an A and will be heading to study medicine at the University of Aberdeen. Photo: Osama El Boraie

Aryan Saboo, an 18-year-old Indian pupil at Gems Cambridge International School - Dubai, who had offers from seven US universities and has decided to go to Georgia Tech, with his parents. Photo: Aryan Saboo

Thousands of UAE pupils are celebrating winning top marks in crucial A-level exams, with some schools achieving their best results yet.

Some flocked to school campuses while others logged in online on Thursday morning to find out their all-important grades after a long summer wait. Schools in the Emirates began to issue results at 11am.

Head teachers hailed the outstanding performances of pupils, which will help them secure places at their universities of choice.

At Brighton College Al Ain, 25 per cent of grades achieved by pupils in the school were the highest grade A*, more than double the number secured in 2023.

Pride and joy

More than half of all grades awarded to pupils at the school were in the range of A* to A, while 50 per cent of those sitting exams are set to go on to study medicine.

Oliver Bromley-Hall, head teacher at Brighton College Al Ain said: “A-level results at Brighton College Al Ain this year are the best in the college’s history.

“The percentage of pupils achieving the highest grade of A* has more than doubled from 12 per cent to 25 per cent and grades at A* and A have increased from 38 per cent to 56 per cent [in the past year].

“A staggering 50 per cent of all offers to our pupils are to study medicine, one of the most competitive and challenging courses for acceptance.

“We are incredibly proud of all of our pupils and are excited by the opportunities that are now open to them, with offers from some of the best universities in the world.”

The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi achieved its highest A* percentage and A*-C results for the past 7 years, excluding the two pandemic years.

At the school, 70 per cent of the grades were A* to B.

Top of the class

This year, 1,883 students at 22 Gems schools in the UAE and Qatar completed 5,191 A-level exams. At Gems schools, 26 per cent of the exam entries achieved A* to A grades while 52 per cent secured A* to B grades.

At Jumeirah College Dubai, 14 per cent of the school’s A-level entries were awarded the top A* grade and 80 per cent were awarded A* to B grades.

Sarah O’Regan, head teacher at Gems Wellington Academy – Silicon Oasis, said the school’s results had improved over the last three years.

Of the school's cohort of 125 pupils, 48 per cent pupils got grades between A* to B – a 7 per cent increase on last year.

Ms O'Regan said a low teacher turnover, investing in high-quality teachers, a huge push on training teachers had helped boost the school's performance.

Rising to the challenge

Every exam is graded from A* to E and grade boundaries which are chosen by the examining body, show the minimum number of marks required to achieve a grade. These grade boundaries will be published on Thursday.

This year, schools anticipated some grade boundaries would be lowered.

Simon Crane, head teacher at Brighton College Dubai, said: “With the anticipation of great boundaries being lowered this year, we helped our pupils with extra revision to make sure they get those top grades to counter any potential grade boundary issues.”

At Brighton College Dubai, more than 45 per cent of grades achieved by pupils were A* or A. The school had a cohort of 24 pupils for the exams.

“We're absolutely delighted that a majority of our pupils will take up their first choice of university, which includes Imperial College London, University College London, Durham University and University of Edinburgh,” said Mr Crane.

The most common grade for this year’s cohort is A* to A with 82 per cent of grades at B and above, a significant improvement from last year’s results.

He said that in previous years, UAE pupils had excelled compared to those in the UK.

He said grades of pupils at the schools had improved significantly in further mathematics and arts.

Dubai British School Emirates Hills saw approximately 40 per cent of A-level pupils achieving an A* or a grade and approximately 75 per cent scoring A* to B.

“We're exceptionally proud again of our cohort of 56 students that have completed A-levels, as well as our students that have completed their BTEC qualification across the last couple of years,” said Brett Girven, head teacher at Dubai British School Emirates Hills.

“On a local and global level, that is a phenomenal level of achievement.”

Mr Girven said pupils on the school had improved consistently with more pupils achieving at the exceptionally high end of the spectrum.

The school saw about a 10 per cent increase in the percentage of pupils scoring an A*.

Tracy Crowder-Cloe, principal at Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, said average performance at the school was up since last year and pupils had performed well in areas such as mathematics, economics, history.

To boost results, she said they looked at areas where pupils had achieved well and the areas in which they had not done well.

“Every year, we work really hard with individual pupils to tailor their curriculum, the support that they receive, and to ensure that we they really get the best out of the course,” said Ms Crowder-Cloe.