INDEPENDENT RESEARCH QUALIFICATIONS
Developing independent research and presentation are vital for future study at university and beyond. Students at Whitgift are offered the opportunity to study for the EPQ alongside their A Levels. Those taking part in the IB route also complete a serious research project in a topic of their choosing.
EPQ (Extended Project Qualification)
The Extended Project Qualification is now an integral part of the Sixth Form curriculum, with the majority of A Level students taking an EPQ as a natural part of their programme of study. This engenders a culture of inquiry and intellectual curiosity which has a positive knock-on effect to the students’ wider approach to the curriculum. Guidance is given in terms of good practice in research methods and effective referencing of sources but pupils essentially work independently on their chosen project.
A series of EPQ Presentation Fairs provides the additional opportunity for pupils to present their work to their peers and teachers. Attendees can quiz the presenters on their research and this can lead to some lively academic debates!
This year, a wide variety of topics were selected, ranging from Has Brexit increased oil prices in the United Kingdom? and Nanotechnology - how did it change our lives in the last 30+ years? to What does Sumerian Law tell us about the Sumerians?
IB Extended Essay
The Extended Essay challenges students to produce a 4,000 word essay which encapsulates their wider academic passions. While nurturing skills vital for university and beyond such as in-depth research, independent thought, and well-honed essay writing, students have the opportunity to develop and demonstrate their ability to write a critical essay on a topic which truly stimulates their mind. This year’s cohort has offered up an engaging and incredibly varied array of works; from calculus of variations via the Brachistochrone Problem to how Chaucer explores authority in the Knight’s Tale and even an investigation into the impact of inequality within the dental sector on patients’ oral health. An impressive number of students were awarded the highest possible grade in the Extended Essay this year: Quentin Aude Lange, Tariq Bamsey, William Brotherhood, Louis Caro, Mathew Hughson, Louis Kauschel, Jude Keeper, Dilan Naik, Seb Oshisanya, Seb Rubio Prida, Oli Ruddall and Aryan Saboohi all produced superb, thoughtful explorations and have gained considerable expertise in their field of investigation.
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IB THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
Theory of Knowledge (TOK) is a course in epistemology for IB students, representing half of the ‘bonus’ core points. Students study how knowledge is produced, evaluated and communicated in academic disciplines spanning Mathematics to the creative arts – and immerse themselves in the themes of Politics and Technology, which influence and are influenced by knowledge across the world.
Further accomplishments are to be found amongst submissions for the Theory of Knowledge assessment. Students were asked to produce both an in person exhibition and an essay in which they reflect on ‘how we know what we claim to know’. In the exhibition over a third of students achieved the highest possible grade showing their ability to interrogate the biases, perspectives and nuances of questions raised by the world around us. Objects were linked to questions such as Can there be knowledge which is independent of culture? or How can we know that current knowledge is an improvement on past knowledge? In the essay, students approached questions such as Does it matter if our acquisition of knowledge happens in “bubbles” where some information and voices are excluded? and For artists and natural scientists, which is more important: what can be explained or what cannot be explained? Special mention must go to Seb Oshisanya who was awarded the highest possible mark in both examined sections of TOK. He chose to tackle the question: Do you agree that it is “astonishing that so little knowledge can give us so much power” (Bertrand Russell)?
4 HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS YEAR
STEM
This year saw numerous activities in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and fantastic results were achieved in National competitions in these areas. Some highlights follow:
MATHEMATICS
Junior Mathematics Challenge
33 Gold / 34 Silver / 23 Bronze (91% who participated received a certificate)
Pink Kangaroo Challenge
4 Merits awarded
Intermediate Mathematics Challenge
35 Gold / 37 Silver / 18 Bronze (89% who participated got a certificate)
Intermediate Olympiad (Maclaurin)
Si Ru Huang T- Distinction with medal and book prize
Grey Kangaroo Challenge
13 Merits awarded
Senior Mathematics Challenge
27 Gold / 42 Silver / 43 Bronze (88% who participated got a certificate)
British Maths Olympiad (BMO) – Round 1
Joshua Park - Distinction with qualification for BMO Round 2
BIOLOGY
Whitgift Diploma for Biomedical Science
12 Distinction / 6 Merit / 12 Pass
Biology Challenge (Fourth Form)
13 Gold / 13 Silver / 57 Bronze
Biology Intermediate Biology
Olympiad (Lower Sixth)
2 Silver / 6 Bronze
Biology Olympiad (Sixth Form)
3 Gold / 5 Silver / 3 Bronze
CHEMISTRY
Royal Society of Chemistry
Olympiad
7 Silver / 18 Bronze
PHYSICS
Junior Physics Challenge
26 Gold / 61 Silver / 24 Bronze
Intermediate Physics Challenge
10 Gold / 11 Silver / 44 Bronze
Senior Physics Challenge
5 Gold / 5 Silver / 18 Bronze
British Physics Olympiad
Round 1
2 Gold / 2 Silver / 8 Bronze
COMPUTER SCIENCE
British Informatics Olympiad (BIO)
This is the national computing competition for Schools and Colleges and students commended for exceptional performance were:
Samuel Bugg-Burke
Stefan van Biljon
DESIGN, TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING
Arkwright Scholarship Award
Femi Owolade-Coombes
Angus Heasman Tree
London MOBIE architectural design competition finalists
2022 – Royal Docks
Joe Hill
Matteo Antonelli
Olaf Baranski-Furdal
London MOBIE architectural design competition finalists
2023 – Croydon CBD regeneration
Joe Hill
Olaf Baranski-Furdal
Jayden Lee
Matteo Antonelli
Siddhant Roy
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LANGUAGES
Whitgift has an exceptionally rich provision for languages, both on the curriculum and in the co-curricular sphere. The innovative curriculum sees pupils study three distinct languages in the First Form and results in high numbers applying to university to read
Modern Languages or Linguistics: 18 from the recent Upper Sixth cohort. Here is a snapshot of some of the co-curricular Languages activities:
Oxford German Olympiad
The Oxford German Olympiad competition aims to showcase the best German language learners in secondary schools across the UK. This year’s competition focussed on food culture across German-speaking peoples, with tasks ranging from creative assignments such as writing a diary entry as a junior chef in a Berlin restaurant to research tasks exploring the origins of Germanic food culture.
UK Linguistics Olympiad (UKLO)
This is a fiendishly difficult 3 hour brain-teaser testing pupils’ ability to decipher unusual or made-up languages.
Silver – Gilbert Wright, Joshua Park, Milo Moffitt
Bronze – Lucian Ng, Oscar Robinson
Japanese Language Championship for Young Learners UK Lochlann Hamilton (Third Form) – Finalist
Lochlann’s creative video about how he celebrates Easter has been selected for the final of this competition.
頑張って、ジェーソンさん！
Joûtes Oratoires
Whitgift hosted the regional heat of the national Joûtes Oratoires, a French debating competition for Sixth Form students. Two Whitgift teams performed extremely well against teams from a plethora of other independent schools from the South-East of the UK. A joint Old Palace-Whitgift team progressed to the regional finals.
Polyglossia
Whitgift has a long tradition of supporting heritage speakers (those who speak a language at home) or those with significant acquired expertise (e.g. those who have spent some years in an education system outside the UK) in improving their knowledge of those languages. Tailored off-timetable sessions focus on writing skills, learning grammar formally and deepening cultural knowledge, thereby freeing up room on the timetable for those pupils to pursue other subjects. 23 of our current Fifth Form pupils and 31 current Fourth Form pupils have been supported in this way to enable them to sit additional GCSE qualifications in their heritage languages, while 26 Sixth Formers have also been supported in attaining A-Level languages as qualifications on top of their normal curricular A-Levels.
HISTORY & POLITICS
NU London Essay Competition
Freddie Fulham was Highly Commended in the Humanities and Social Sciences Essay competition run by NU London.
History Festival
Pupils across the Lower First, Third, Fourth and Lower Sixth Forms attended talks or seminars for the History Festival. Speakers included:
> Dominic Sandbrook, the co-host of The Rest is History
> Edward Shawcross, author of The Last Emperor of Mexico
> James Daybell, creator of the Histories of the Unexpected series
> Adam Smith, Edward Orsborn Professor of US Politics and Political History and Director of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford.
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THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY Minds Underground Competition
Daniel Lees – Highly Commended
Daniel was highly commended in the ‘Minds Underground’ Philosophy essay competition for his essay on the question - Are you the same person as when you were born? When you were 5? When you were 10? . This is a national competition aimed at Lower Sixth students.
ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT
Academic Enrichment at Whitgift has continued to grow. Our unwavering desire that students should take increasing responsibility for their own intellectual development has meant that three different Academic Enrichment groups meet each week and students in all year groups are able to explore anything and everything that sparks their curiosity. Another 60 academic articles have been produced and published in the fourth volume of our very own academic journal, and the fifth edition will be released in October 2023. Electronic editions of The Journal can be found on Whitgift’s website.
Highlights of the year included:
> I don’t know how far away the moon lies, but here is how I proved the Doppler Effect – Daniel Shnaydman – Winner of the Kelvin Science Essay Competition run by Peterhouse, Cambridge.
> What can historians learn from the study of past empires and imperialism – Freddie Fulham – Highly Commended in the NCH Essay Competition
> To What Extent did Finland Contribute to the Events of World War Two – Sebastian Pabst
> The Story of Zhao Ziyang – Si Ru Huang
> The Obscure History of Pre-Modern World Trade – Nana Appiagyei
> The Complement System – Hrishi Tumuluri and Priyian Ganeshalingam
> In and Out of Obscurity – Oliver Whitaker-Jones
We have also been able to invite many prestigious speakers to visit Whitgift. Dr Irving Finkel of the British Museum captivated an audience with his passion for cuneiform and with his life story (including the construction and sailing of a life size Noah’s Ark). Dr Richard Taylor showed how a breadth of academic expertise in Medicine, Law, Psychology and Anthropology is the only reason he can successfully engage with the most difficult of homicide cases. We were also joined by two university academics – Professor David Manley (OW) of UCL gave a fascinating account of his work in the field of Naval Architecture and the design of battle ships, and Professor Richard Dance of Cambridge delivered an energetic introduction to histories and poems (and jokes!) written in Early English.
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theJournal …Description Academic Enrichment Society volume five 2023
LEAVERS’ DESTINATIONS
The prestigious university destinations that our Upper Sixth Form will be going to reflect the hard work and effort they have applied in what is a highly competitive application process.
62% Russell Group places | 63% going to their first-choice destination
OXBRIDGE
Oxbridge applicants face additional challenges en route to offers and confirmed places this year. Whitgift offers a programme of super-curricular enrichment and support in preparing for personal statement submission, admissions tests and interviews. We congratulate the following leavers on their achievement and wish them well as they join a growing network of Old Whitgiftians at these landmark universities.
University of Oxford:
Elishe Lim (Music, New)
Gibran Ahmed (Materials Science, St Edmund Hall)
Harvey Rendall (Engineering, Oriel)
Matthew Dokoupil (Law, Exeter)
Oscar Gloux (Turkish, Queen’s)
Seb Oshisanya (English, Wadham)
Nile White* (English and Italian, St John’s)
University of Cambridge:
Artyom Boyarov** (Computer Science, Trinity Hall)
Ubaydullah Ajanaku (English, King’s)
* Nile has accepted an offer at Princeton University (see below)
** Artyom has accepted an offer at the University of Michigan (see below)
INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITIES
Whitgift fully supports the application process for students looking to apply for international placements and this year 15 students selected overseas establishments to further their studies. Some of the notable results are listed here.
Canada
McGill University, Canada – Alex Burton
University of Toronto, Canada – Kunal Gupta, Taffy Orogun
USA
Boston University, USA – Ali El Syed
Northwestern University, USA – Tooni Adisa
Princeton University, USA – Nile White
Stanford University, USA – Nifemi Bankole
University of California, Berkeley – Gonzalo Ramos Cervera
University of California, Los Angeles – Ben Quarrey
University of Michigan, USA – Artyom Boyarov
Asia
Keio University, Japan – Sota Iijima
The University of Hong Kong – Cheuk Yin Brian Wong
University of Western Australia, Australia – Adam Swan
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UNIVERSITY DESTINATIONS (ALPHABETICAL)
DESTINATIONS ACCORDING TO ACADEMIC PATHWAY
Whitgift students have taken various pathways to their final destinations with equal measures of success.
A Level
A Levels are the most popular school-leaving qualification in the UK, providing a specialist Sixth Form curriculum. Our 2023 students are pursuing higher education in their preferred subjects, such as Biology, Chemistry, Chinese, Classics, Computer Science, Economics, Geography, History, Mathematics, Physics, Politics and Psychology. Most will study at Russell Group universities.
International Baccalaureate (IB)
The IB Diploma Programme is a complete portfolio of academic qualifications; students study six subjects, three at Higher Level and three at Standard Level as well as develop academic skills through a common curriculum of critical thinking and writing an Extended Essay. Students are going on to follow courses such as English, Sciences, History and Medicine with university destinations such as St Andrews, Edinburgh, Bristol, University of Michigan and Oxford.
9 BIMM University 1 Bournemouth University 1 Cardiff University 1 Durham University 13 Imperial College London 5 King’s College London, University of London 6 London Metropolitan University 1 London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London 2 Loughborough University 8 Manchester Metropolitan University 1 McGill University 1 Newcastle University 4 Northumbria University, Newcastle 1 Nottingham Trent University 3 Oxford Brookes University 4 Princeton University 1 Queen Mary University of London 4 Royal Holloway, University of London 2 Stanford University 1 Study in Hong Kong 1 Swansea University 1 The University of Edinburgh 12 University College London 12 University of Bath 4 University of Birmingham 1 University of Bristol 13 University of California 2 University of Cambridge 1 University of East Anglia 1 University of Exeter 11 University of Glasgow 1 University of Kent 1 University of Leeds 9 University of Leicester 1 University of Liverpool 2 University of Manchester 4 University of Michigan 1 University of Nottingham 14 University of Oxford 6 University of Reading 1 University of Sheffield 1 University of Southampton 10 University of St Andrews 2 University of Surrey 1 University of Sussex 2 University of Toronto 2 University of Warwick 12 University of York 1
WHAT WHITGIFT STUDENTS GO ON TO READ AT UNIVERSITY?
Whitgift students apply for a range of academic and professional qualifications at university. Many of this year’s cohort will develop their interests in the traditional academic disciplines: Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, English, Geography, History, Languages (European and Asian), Mathematics, Philosophy and the Natural Sciences. The numbers studying Business, International Relations, Management and Sports Science are also strong.
Medicine
Nationally, Medical Schools have seen a steep rise in applicants for a similar number of highly competitive places. We are incredibly proud of our three students who will leave us to study Medicine this year in the UK and abroad.
> Arhaan Haridas - King’s College London, University of London
> Yuvan Suthakaran - King’s College London, University of London
> Nayan Visrolia - Imperial College London
We wish all our leavers the best of luck as they embark on the years ahead and we will be delighted to follow their progress and successes as Old Whitgiftians.
10 FURTHER
STUDIES
Aerospace Engineering with Pilot Studies 1 American Studies and History 2 Ancient History 1 Archaeology and Ancient Civilisations 1 Architecture 1 Arts and Sciences 1 Astrophysics 1 Biology 6 Biomedical Sciences 5 Business and Management 8 Chemical Engineering 2 Chemistry 1 Chemistry and Mathematics 1 Chinese 1 Classics 4 Computer Animation Art & Design 1 Computer Science 14 Dentistry 2 Ecological and Environmental Sciences 1 Economic History 1 Economics 14 Economics, Politics and International Relations 1 Economics, Psychology and Philosophy (EPP) 1 Electrical & Electronic Engineering 1 Engineering 2 English 9 Financial Mathematics and Statistics 1 French and Classics 1 French and Economics 1 Geography 3 History 16 History and Political Economy 1 History and Politics of the Americas 1 History and Russian 1 History of Art and Italian 1 Industrial Economics 1 Information Management for Business 1 International Management/Business 5 International Media and Communications Studies 1 International Relations 2 Japanese 2 Law 1 Law with Politics 1 Liberal Arts 2 Management 2 Materials Science 1 Mathematics 3 Mathematics with Economics 1 Mathematics, Operational Research, Statistics and Economics 1 Mechanical Engineering 5 Medicine 3 Modern Languages 6 Molecular Bioengineering 1 Music 1 Neuroscience 2 Pharmaceutical Chemistry 1 Philosophy 3 Philosophy and Politics 1 Philosophy, Politics and Economics 1 Physics and Astronomy 1 Politics and Economics 1 Politics and International Relations 1 Product Design 3 Psychology 3 Social and Political Sciences 1 Sociology 1 Spanish and English Literature 1 Spanish and History 1 Sport and Exercise Science 3 Sport Management 3 Theoretical Physics 1 Turkish 1 UNIVERSITY COURSES 2023 (ALPHABETICAL)
11 A LEVEL RESULTS 2023
Grade A* A B C Other 2023 Cumulative % 22.6 56.8 88.5 97.3 100 2023 Results by Department Subjects Entries A* A B C Other A*-B% Art & Design 1 0 0 1 0 0 100% Art Graphics 3 0 1 1 0 1 67% Biology 21 7 6 6 1 1 90% Business 18 1 1 11 4 1 72% Chemistry 27 8 11 4 3 1 85% Classical Civilisation 9 0 5 2 1 1 78% Computer Science 19 6 6 4 3 0 84% D&T 9 0 1 6 0 2 78% Drama 4 1 0 3 0 0 100% Economics 48 10 24 14 0 0 100% English Literature 22 6 9 5 2 0 91% French 5 1 1 3 0 0 100% Further Maths 15 4 5 6 0 0 100% Geography 14 1 10 3 0 0 100% German 1 0 1 0 0 0 100% Greek 3 0 2 1 0 0 100% History 39 1 11 18 9 0 77% Italian 2 0 2 0 0 0 100% Japanese 1 0 1 0 0 0 100% Latin 8 0 4 3 0 1 88% Mandarin Chinese 9 5 3 1 0 0 100% Mathematics 73 30 21 18 2 2 95% Music 2 0 1 0 1 0 50% PE 12 5 4 2 1 0 92% Physics 28 8 16 0 2 2 86% Politics 28 5 7 9 7 0 75% Psychology 20 3 5 8 4 0 80% Religious Studies 6 0 4 2 0 0 100% Spanish 5 0 2 3 0 0 100% TOTALS 452 102 164 134 40 12 88.5%
Advanced Level results from Whitgift Upper Sixth Form candidates
The average score for this year’s candidates was 38.6 points out of a maximum of 45.
2023 International Baccalaureate Results by Department
12 IB RESULTS 2023
Subjects Entries Grades Average Average 7 6 5 4 grade grade (School) (Worldwide) Subject Group 1 English A: Literature HL 23 1 17 5 0 5.8 4.56 English A: Literature SL 25 5 12 7 1 5.8 491 French A: Lang and Literature SL 2 0 1 1 0 5.5 4.71 Subject Group 2 Chinese B - Mandarin SL 5 2 1 1 1 5.8 5.28 French B HL 5 0 1 2 2 4.8 5.15 French B SL 6 0 2 4 0 5.3 4.93 German B HL 5 3 2 0 0 6.6 5.67 German B SL 4 1 0 3 0 5.5 5.11 Japanese B SL 2 0 1 1 0 5.5 5.26 Latin HL 4 1 1 1 1 5.5 4.43 Latin SL 3 1 1 1 0 6 4.11 Spanish B HL 7 4 1 2 0 6.3 5.31 Spanish B SL 5 1 2 1 1 5.6 4.93 Subject Group 3 Economics HL 15 9 4 2 0 6.5 5.11 Economics SL 9 6 2 0 1 6.4 4.75 Geography HL 4 2 2 0 0 6.5 5,25 History Europe HL 23 14 7 2 0 6.5 4.33 History Europe SL 7 3 3 1 0 6.3 4.65 Philosophy HL 8 3 5 0 0 6.4 4.96 Psychology HL 5 0 5 0 0 6 4.78 Psychology SL 3 2 1 0 0 6.7 4.45 Subject Group 4 Biology HL 6 1 3 2 0 5.8 4.39 Biology SL 4 2 2 0 0 6.5 4.15 Chemistry HL 9 3 4 2 0 6.1 4.56 Chemistry SL English 5 1 0 1 3 4.8 4.1 Computer Science HL 6 1 2 3 0 5.7 4.41 Computer Science SL 1 0 0 0 1 4 3.93 Physics HL 15 9 3 2 1 6.3 4.8 Physics SL 12 5 3 4 0 6.1 4.21 Subject Group 5 Mathematics Analysis and Approaches HL 17 11 4 0 2 6.4 4.87 Mathematics Analysis and Approaches SL 6 2 3 0 1 6 4.61 Mathematics Analysis and Interp SL 27 13 12 2 0 6.4 3.87 Subject Group 6 Music SL 2 0 1 1 0 5.5 4.16 Music HL 2 1 1 0 0 6.5 4.78
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Grade 9 8 7 6 5 Other 2023 Cumulative % 38.2 67.5 88.5 96.7 99.2 100 2023 GCSE and IGCSE Level
Department Subjects Entries 9 8 7 6 5 Other 9-7% Art & Design 14 2 2 3 2 3 2 50% Art Graphics 11 2 2 3 3 1 0 64% Biology 185 90 54 32 5 4 0 95% Chemistry 185 71 58 36 18 1 1 89% Computer Science 62 28 20 7 4 3 0 89% D & T 59 18 14 14 11 0 2 78% Drama 21 2 4 3 10 2 0 43% Economics 88 25 26 17 8 6 6 77% English 228 111 79 28 9 1 0 96% English Literature 224 83 69 47 21 4 0 89% French 49 14 10 14 7 3 1 78% Geography 116 53 31 23 9 0 0 92% German 45 15 11 12 5 1 1 84% Greek 11 6 2 2 0 0 1 91% History 152 67 43 34 7 0 1 95% Italian 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 100% Japanese 19 5 4 5 5 0 0 74% Latin 25 10 6 5 2 2 0 84% Mandarin Chinese 51 20 4 15 6 6 0 76% Mathematics 228 74 83 57 11 3 0 94% Music 10 4 4 2 0 0 0 100% P.E. 56 30 17 5 3 1 0 93% Physics 185 84 54 41 5 1 0 97% Religious Studies 35 19 12 3 0 0 1 97% Science (Double Award) A 43 2 15 17 4 5 0 79% Science (Double Award) B 43 0 6 20 11 5 1 60% Spanish 80 16 21 22 16 4 1 74% TOTALS 2227 851 653 467 182 56 18 88.5% Subject Entries A B C D A-C Additional Maths (FSMQ) 46 35 7 1 3 93% GCSE RESULTS 2023
The 228 Fifth Form candidates were entered for an average of 9.8 subjects per pupil.
Results by
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Whitgift School
Haling Park
South Croydon
London
CR2 6YT
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8688 9222
Email: office@whitgift.co.uk
www.whitgift.co.uk
HG/09-10-2023
