Students at Queen’s College, London are celebrating their A-level results today as the Class of 2026 prepares to take up an exciting and increasingly diverse range of university places and opportunities in the UK and overseas.
Almost one in five A-level grades awarded at Queen’s this year was an A*, up more than two percentage points on last year, with a number of students achieving exceptional individual results across three and four subjects.
Individual successes included an outstanding four A-level performance of two A*s and two As and a full house of three A*s, while five students achieved two A*s and an A, and a further two achieved A*AA.
Overall, 49.2% of A-level grades were awarded A* or A, with 82.5% at A*-B.
But results day at Queen’s is about much more than grades alone. This year's leavers are now preparing for an impressive variety of next steps, reflecting their individual interests, talents and ambitions.
Among this year’s highest-performing students are three recipients of 100% bursaries, two of whom joined Queen’s from Sarah Bonnell School in Newham.
Queen’s has a longstanding partnership with Sarah Bonnell through which students each year are offered fully funded bursary places to join the Queen’s Sixth Form and complete their A-level studies. This year’s results provide a particularly powerful reflection of the partnership.
Laiba, a bursary recipient who joined Queen’s from Sarah Bonnell, achieved an excellent set of A-level results, meeting the terms of her offer to study Law at Queen Mary University of London. During her time at Queen’s, she has also been a key member of the College’s Girls’ Human Rights Hub, reflecting her strong interest in rights and justice.
Laiba said: “Queen’s College has been really supportive throughout my academic journey. I joined feeling quite scared, but everyone here was really friendly, and the two years I’ve spent at Queen’s have been very memorable.”
For Mable, results day brought confirmation that she will be heading to her first-choice university, Exeter, to study English. Having studied Geography, English and History at A-level, she credits the small Sixth Form environment and the individual attention of her teachers with helping her achieve her results.
She said: “I think the small environment means you get an extra amount of support, which is extremely useful at a time like A-levels. Ms Tucker went above and beyond. She ran extra coursework sessions after school and even matched our free periods with hers so that she could give us one-to-one, specific support. It definitely helped me and is reflected in the grades I’ve just received.”
Millie will also be heading to her first-choice university, taking up a place at the University of Edinburgh to study History of Art – a subject she first encountered at A-level at Queen’s and quickly discovered she wanted to pursue further.
She said: “History of Art was one of the first things I knew I wanted to pursue when I started Sixth Form. I experienced it for a little while and just fell in love with it immediately. From September of Year 12, I loved it.
“I fell in love with it not only because of Dr Hansel, but because of the course itself: the subject, the way it’s taught and how many different disciplines it brings together. That was when I knew it was what I really wanted to study.
“I’m really grateful for all the supportive teachers, and I wish everyone all the best.”
The breadth of this year’s university choices reflects the highly individual ambitions of Queen’s students, with leavers preparing to pursue subjects spanning the sciences, humanities and creative arts.
Among the most popular choices this year are Medicine, Marine Biology, Law, Politics, English, Art and History of Art, with students receiving offers from leading UK universities including UCL, King’s College London, Exeter, Bristol, Bath and Edinburgh.
Among the more unusual destinations, one student is heading to the University of Manchester to study Physics with Astrophysics, joining a department whose first-year teaching includes lectures from renowned physicist and broadcaster Professor Brian Cox.
Others are looking further afield, with universities across Europe and the United States becoming increasingly popular destinations, reflecting the breadth of aspirations and opportunities open to this year’s leavers.
The range of choices reflects an important part of a Queen’s education. A small, all-girls environment gives students the space to find their voice, participate fully in classroom discussion and grow in confidence and self-belief. Combined with highly personalised guidance from teachers who know them well, this encourages students to pursue their individual strengths and ambitions - whether in Astrophysics or Art, Medicine or Politics.
There were notable performances in subjects across the arts, humanities, languages and sciences.
Strength was evident across a broad range of subjects, from English Literature and Art, where more than three quarters of grades were A*-A, to Economics, Further Maths and Dance, where 100% of grades were awarded at A*-A. Languages and Classics provided further highlights, and History, Politics and RS (Religious Studies) all brought 100% A*-B outcomes.
Reaction from the Principal, Richard Tillett:
“Results day is always a very special moment at Queen’s because behind every set of grades is an individual story. Today we are celebrating not simply a collection of results, but the hard work and intellectual curiosity of each of our students and the exciting opportunities now ahead of them.
“There are some exceptional academic performances among this year's results, and we are enormously proud of them. Just as importantly, our leavers are pursuing an extraordinarily broad range of ambitions at universities and institutions in the UK and internationally.
“A Queen’s education has always been about helping young women discover where their particular strengths and interests lie and giving them the confidence to pursue them. The destinations of this year's leavers are a wonderful reflection of that individuality.
“We are especially proud to see three of our fully funded bursary students among this year’s highest achievers. Our partnerships and bursary programme are an important part of Queen’s commitment to widening access to the opportunities an education here can provide, and it is wonderful to see these students flourishing and preparing for such exciting next steps.
“I congratulate every member of the Class of 2026 and thank their families and our dedicated staff for the encouragement and support they have given them. We look forward to seeing what they do next.”
Further details about Queen’s College, London’s A-level results and destinations can be found at www.qcl.org.uk