The Willink School & Sixth Form

A lovely piece from local news celebrating this year’s fantastic GCSE results at The Willink. We’re incredibly proud of all our students and the hard work they’ve put in. ❤️👏

GCSE results 2026: The Willink School & Sixth Form celebrates strongest results since pandemic : https://rdg.today/gcse-results-2026-willink-school-celebrates-strongest-results-since-pandemic/

📸 A few more photos from this morning’s celebrations! So many smiles, happy tears and proud moments as our Class of 2026 celebrated their GCSE results. 💙🎉

🎉 What a fantastic morning celebrating GCSE results at The Willink! 🎉

Our Year 11 Class of 2026 have been celebrating their GCSE results today, and what a morning it has been! The hall has been filled with joy, relief, excitement, hugs and plenty of happy tears as students opened their results. 💙

We are incredibly proud of every single one of our students. This is a cohort who have worked exceptionally hard, supported one another and shown real determination and resilience throughout their GCSE journey.

And the results are something to celebrate! 👏

⭐ 84% achieved grades 4+ in both English and Maths
⭐ 64% achieved grades 5+ in both English and Maths
⭐ 36% of all grades awarded were at grade 7 or above
⭐ An Attainment 8 score of 57 – significantly above the national average
⭐ 79% achieved grades 4+ in English and Maths, plus 4+ in three other subjects
⭐ 60% achieved grades 4+ in English and Maths, plus 5+ in three other subjects
🌟 3 students achieved straight 9s across all their GCSEs
🌟 42 students achieved at least seven grades at 7–9

But today isn't just about numbers. It's about celebrating the individual achievements, hard work and personal journeys behind every result.

A huge congratulations to our Class of 2026! Whether you're returning to The Willink Sixth Form or heading off to pastures new, we wish you every success for the next chapter. You will always be part of The Willink family. 💙

A special thank you too to our wonderful staff, parents and carers for the encouragement, expertise and support they have given our students along the way.

**Engage. Respect. Achieve.**
Today, our future global changemakers have certainly achieved. 🌍✨

📖 Read our full GCSE Results 2026 press release on our website: https://zurl.co/ox3kP

Just a reminder: GCSE Results Day is tomorrow! 🎓

We are looking forward to welcoming our Year 11 students back to school and celebrating their achievements after all their hard work. 💙

GCSE examination results will be available for collection from The Willink main hall on Thursday 20 August, between 9:00am and 11:00am.

Students are encouraged to collect their results **in person**. If this isn’t possible, a nominated person may collect them on the student’s behalf with a signed and dated letter of authorisation from the student and photographic identification.

Students joining The Willink Sixth Form should check their results against the entry requirements in their offer letter. The Sixth Form Team will be available on Results Day to provide guidance and support with next steps.

📄 For full information, please see the Year 11 GCSE Summer 2026 Public Examination Results letter shared at the end of term and available on our website😀https://zurl.co/Igis1

Good luck to all our Year 11 students! We are incredibly proud of you and look forward to seeing you tomorrow. 💙🎓

We were delighted to welcome Stephanie Stevenson (Chairman of West Berkshire), Ashley Milum (Service Director for Education and SEND) and Bethany’s-Jo O’Neill (Digital Comms Officer) to our results day this morning. They enjoyed meeting our students and staff, and sharing in our celebrations. 🎉

🎉 **A HUGE congratulations to our Year 13 students!** 🎉

Today we celebrated our Year 13 students as they collected their **A Level, Level 3 Vocational and EPQ results** – and we could not be prouder! 💙

📚 **Across 257 A Level entries:**
⭐ **52% achieved A–B**
⭐ **21% achieved A*–A**
⭐ **74% achieved A*–C**

Our **EPQ students** also achieved outstanding results, with **52% of grades at A–A, 82% at A*–B and a 100% pass rate**.

Our vocational students are celebrating excellent outcomes too, with **almost two thirds of outcomes at Distinction** and **every student achieving a Pass or higher**.

And the results are opening doors to some incredible destinations, with students heading to **Cambridge, Bath, Warwick, Nottingham, Southampton, Loughborough, Birmingham, Manchester, Cardiff, Exeter and many more**, as well as apprenticeships and employment.

🎓 Among the individual successes, one student achieved **four A grades and will progress to the University of Cambridge to study Engineering**.

But today is about **so much more than grades**.

This cohort has shown ambition, resilience, leadership and kindness throughout their Sixth Form journey – volunteering in their communities, completing the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, taking part in enrichment and trips, supporting others and making a real contribution to The Willink and beyond.

🌍 **Our future global changemakers are ready for their next chapter.**

As Headteacher Nicolle Browning says:

> “Excellent qualifications open doors, but character, confidence and leadership help determine what young people do when they walk through them.”

**We are incredibly proud of who they have become and everything they are capable of achieving next.**

Congratulations, Year 13! 🎓💙 **Go and make your mark on the world - our Future Global Changemakers!** 🌍✨

Read our press release here: https://zurl.co/npzoq
Find out more about The Willink Sixth Form on our website:https://zurl.co/2A0d6

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📣 GCE Public Examination Results 2026

Just a reminder that A Level examination results will be available for collection from The Willink main hall tomorrow morning, Thursday 13 August, between 9:00am and 11:00am. 🎓

📚 Year 12 external examination results (excluding GCSE Mathematics and English Language) will also be available on A Level Results Day.

Students are encouraged to collect their results in person. If this isn’t possible, a nominated person may collect them on the student’s behalf, provided they have a signed and dated letter of authorisation from the student naming the person collecting the results and photographic identification.

🎓 Need advice about your next steps?

If students have any questions or concerns about their future plans, including their UCAS application, they should speak to a member of the Sixth Form Team, who will be available to provide guidance and support.

If a student needs to apply through UCAS Clearing, they should access the UCAS website as soon as possible and manage their application directly. School staff are unable to contact UCAS or universities on a student’s behalf.

📄 For full information, please see the letter shared at the end of term: GCE Summer 2026 Public Examination Results Letter https://zurl.co/ARm5h

We look forward to see you tomorrow and wish all our students the best on results day and hope they get the results they have worked so hard to achieve. 💙

🎉 That's a wrap on another fantastic academic year at The Willink! 🎉

As we reach the end of term, we'd like to wish all of our students, families, staff and wider community a wonderful, well-deserved summer break.

Congratulations to every one of our students for a successful year. We are incredibly proud of all you have achieved and of the way you have embodied our school values of Engage. Respect. Achieve.

In just 190 school days, together we have:
✨ Sat 136 GCSE and A Level examinations
✨ Completed 295 work experience placements
✨ Raised over £11,000 for charity
✨ Contributed 2,054 hours of voluntary service to our community – representing more than £15,500 of social value
✨ Celebrated 122 students achieving their Bronze, Silver or Gold Duke of Edinburgh's Award, with a further 123 Year 9 students now registered
✨ Organised 50 educational trips and visits
✨ Offered 40 clubs every term
✨ Staged six creative arts productions and concerts
✨ Welcomed our new Year 7 students from 36 different primary schools

These achievements reflect not only the opportunities available at The Willink, but also the commitment, resilience and enthusiasm of our students.

A heartfelt thank you goes to our dedicated staff, both teaching and support staff, whose hard work, care and commitment make our school such a special place every single day.

We would also like to thank all of our parents and carers for your continued encouragement and support throughout the year. For those families whose children have now completed Year 13, this may be our final opportunity to thank you for being part of The Willink community over the past seven years. We wish you every success for the future.

We look forward to celebrating with our GCE and GCSE students on Results Days in August and can't wait to welcome everyone back in September, refreshed and ready for another exciting academic year.

Have a fantastic summer! ☀️

📢 Year 9 students – a place has become available on our Málaga Educational Visit! 🇪🇸

We have one place available on our exciting trip to Málaga, Spain (14–17 October 2026).

The visit will give students the opportunity to immerse themselves in Spanish language, art and culture, making it a fantastic experience for those studying GCSE Spanish and/or Art.

Interested? Find out more in the trip letter on our website under Parents → Year 9 Letters.

📧 To take up this available place, please contact our Finance Office as soon as possible at [email protected].

Don’t miss this opportunity to experience Málaga! 🇪🇸✨

🌟 WeLink Issue 106 is here! 🌟

Our final digital newsletter of the academic year is now available to read — and what a busy few weeks it has been!

In this bumper edition, we celebrate the many achievements, experiences and successes from across our school community, including educational trips, performing arts highlights, our Digital & Media students’ work and Media Showcase Awards, Eco Week, the Year 7 Silent Disco, Sixth Form Dress Up Day, sporting successes, individual achievements and much more.

A huge thank you to all our students, staff, families, governors and wider community for making this such a successful and memorable year.

📖 Read WeLink Issue 106 here: https://zurl.co/JSjTE

We wish everyone a wonderful summer break and look forward to sharing more news and celebrating further successes with you in the autumn term. 💙

WeLink Issue 106 Message from the Head