These results over time show historic performance for key exam results. We show pre-pandemic results as the fairest indicator of whether performance is up, down or stable
School Description
Visits can be arranged at your convenience and taster days can be organised for prospective students. Please do come and visit, talk to our inspirational students and get a feel for the wonderful, creative and uniquely joyful place that Concord College is.
At Concord College we are very proud of the excellent academic results that our students acheive, placing us highly in UK school league tables each year. Our students love to learn and are ambitious for their futures. Their dreams are supported and their inquisitiveness and independence of thought are celebrated. They go on to thrive at the very best universities around the world.
However, what really sets Concord apart is our diverse, vibrant and truly international community. Our students have daily opportunities to develop hugely important skills in communication, teamwork and social responsbility. As a result, students leave Concord College as confident, empathetic and respectful adults. The beauty and tranquility of our stunning campus, set in the English countryside, provides the perfect backdrop for study and growth.
Our community shares a culture of excellence and joyful learning infused throughout with the rigour, kindness and creativity that are expressed in our aims and reflected in our efforts every single day.
Most importantly of all, our students are happy: you will find many smiling faces here.
Dr Michael Truss MPhys Hons. (Oxon.) FRAS
Concord’s ‘Class of 2021’ have achieved the college's highest A level grades in the college's history and sees our students awarded places at top university destinations and courses.
This year's A level results at a glance:
- 76% of A level grades at A*
- 94% of A level grades A*-B
- 1/3 of students achieved 4 A*s or more
- 2/3 of students achieved 3 A*s or more
- 96% of students made it onto their first-choice university course
- 82.9% of leavers achieved places at Top 10 universities or medical school.
- 57% of leavers achieved places at Top 5 UK universities
Our students are going on to study at Oxford, Cambridge, LSE, Imperial, KCL, UCL, Warwick and Durham. Other destinations include Thammasat Thailand, Hong Kong University and prestigious US Ivy League institutions.
Assistant Principal Dr Rob Pugh said, “The last academic year was unprecedented, with students and teachers facing new challenges every step of the way. It is therefore an outstanding achievement for Concord students to have maintained the college’s fine record of success. Many of the cohort required one or more A* grades to secure their university places and manged to do so despite of the uncertainty they have faced all year. We are all immensely proud of their achievements.”
Dr Truss studied Physics at Balliol College, Oxford, where he obtained a First; a PhD in Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Leicester and a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of St Andrews followed. Academic roles in the UK and abroad eventually lead to a move into teaching at Bedales School, where he became Head of Mathematics and Head of Academic Enrichment. Before arriving at Concord, he was Deputy Head (Academic) at Barnard Castle School, where he had overall responsibility for all aspects of academic life, overseeing a rise in top grades at A-Level and a redevelopment of the curriculum.
Who/what inspired you to become a teacher?
As a research scientist working in universities, I did a significant amount of undergraduate teaching, which I really enjoyed. I realised that even though I found research exciting, I actually preferred teaching: my last university role was a Teaching Fellowship at Durham University in the Physics and Astronomy department, which was a good indicator of my direction of travel. Further progress as an academic in my field would probably have meant teaching less, and a gradual widening of the age groups that I was teaching through university outreach work with schools sealed the deal for me. An absolute high-point of my career – and still true to this day – was sitting cross-legged on the floor of a planetarium showing the constellations to 4 and 5 year old children. So in many ways, it was these very young children who first inspired me to teach, though a significant number of slightly older students then and in the years since have continued being inspirational.
What achievement are you most proud of as Head?
I took on the role of Principal at Concord in September 2021, so I have not had a long time yet in post, but what an exciting and fast-moving time it has been already! I’m most proud of the fact that I feel that I genuinely appreciate what really matters in this brilliant, vibrant, unusual College community. It’s a very welcoming place and I’m immediately at home here, because I understand the mindset of our students – intellectual, hard-working, fun – and I know that they are supported by a brilliant team of equally enthusiastic, well-qualified and very caring staff. I am proud of how Concord has handled the pandemic – with 500 or so international students from 42 countries, all with varying travel restrictions, this could have been very difficult, but things have worked seamlessly, with a rapid, smooth transition to an online educational experience when needed and a transition back to in-person learning as soon as we were able to do so. Mostly, though, I am proud of our wonderful students and how they have handled everything that the world has thrown at them over that last two years with such grace and kindness. This very much is their achievement and I am proud to lead this wonderful community.
What does a successful school look like to you?
A successful school is full of happy children who feel able to explore and enjoy all the wonderful things on offer, whether it’s in the classroom, performing in a concert or in our theatre, mentoring others or leading one of the numerous or very diverse activities we have here: all sorts of things from the Model United Nations to crochet club. The best schools nurture a child’s confidence and abilities, help them find their talents and interests and provide support for them to flourish – as who they are. At Concord, we share an understanding of the importance of hard work (we’d call it rigour), creativity in thinking as well as in practice and – most important of all – kindness. The latter isn’t just vital in such a diverse community, it’s vital for us all to be happy and successful people.
What is the most important quality you want every child to have when they leave your school? And why?
There are three qualities, equally important: a confidence in themselves, a sense of purpose in what they want to go out into the wider world to achieve, and a strong moral compass. We are at our happiest when we believe in ourselves and care about what we are doing, and Concord is fortunate enough to be able to attract and cater for students who have the will – and the intellectual capabilities – to make real and lasting impacts to those and the world around them. We share a like-minded ethos but don’t forget that fundamentally, we are all individuals. All three qualities need to be nurtured because, after all, if we are in the business of preparing young people to go out and have a positive influence in the world, they need to be confident, have a sense of what they want to achieve and have a strong moral compass.
Please give 5 words to describe the ethos of your school.
Joyful – academic – international – kind - purposeful
This school is independently managed and its admission criteria may be selective. There is no set catchment area as pupils are admitted from a wide variety of postcodes and, in the case of boarding schools, from outside the UK. Contact the school directly or visit their website for more information on Admissions Policy and Procedures.
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