Loreto’s high-flyers are gearing up to start their university careers at Oxford and Cambridge while hundreds of others are heading to the country’s best institutions.

After an excellent performance in their A levels Loreto’s leavers are heading off to the next stage in their lives.

Three of the many Loreto students who progress to Cambridge each year are: Dominic Biddle off to Jesus College to study History, Saba Anwar going to Fitzwilliam College to read Natural Sciences and Kayleigh Smeaton starting her politics degree at Homerton College. Max Cooper will be starting his engineering degree at Queens College, Oxford after taking a year out working in the engineering field.

More than 80% of students are off to their choice of university and a high proportion are heading to the top performing institutions, known as the Russell group, including Manchester, Leeds, York, Bristol, Edinburgh and Imperial College, London and many other leading research intensive universities. Some students are still waiting to confirm their final places.

Many students have chosen degrees in demanding subjects which lead to prestigious professional qualifications. There are 12 students going to study medicine, 20 will be reading law, 24 pharmacy and an amazing 35 students will be studying various types of engineering.

Loreto’s recent Ofsted report praises the work done at college to support university applications:
‘As a result of their high attainment, students are able to apply successfully for courses which are very selective, including medicine, dentistry and physiotherapy, at high profile universities.’ Ofsted 2010.

Senior tutor Ms Halkon, who is in charge of university admissions at Loreto, said everyone was delighted that so many of our students gained places at top class universities.

“More students than ever were accepted by their first choice which is not surprising since the majority of our students achieved grade A or B grades at A2,” she said.