Academic Success

Senior school > Curriculum > Academic Success

At Gresham’s we strive to educate the whole child with an emphasis on their intellectual, spiritual and physical development. Happy pupils are successful learners and our broad curriculum delivers a tailored approach to each pupil’s education whether through GCSEs, A levels, BTECs or the IB Diploma. We welcome children of all abilities and our exam results are excellent.

In 2026, at A level, 42% of all grades were awarded at A* or A, compared with a national average of 28.5%, while an impressive 89% of grades were awarded at A* to C, an increase on last year’s already strong performance.

Pupils studying BTEC qualifications also enjoyed excellent success, with 30% achieving the prestigious Distinction* grade.

This year, an outstanding 97% of all GCSE entries were graded 9-4, significantly above the national pass rate of 67%. At the highest grades, 49% of all entries were awarded grades 7-9, more than double the national figure of 22%. Across the year group, 56 pupils achieved at least one coveted Grade 9.

IB Diploma Average

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

35.2

37.2

35.6

35.9

35.4

37.5

35.6

A level

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

Overall Pass Rate

99.5%

99.6%

99%

100%

100%

100%

100%

A* – A Grades

42%

44%

46%

44%

51%

56%

39.7%

A* – B Grades

70.3%


71%


70%

66%

71%

81%

69%

BTEC

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

Overall Pass Rate

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

100%

% Distinction

67%

62%

47%

65%

71%

20%

% Merit

100%

93%

88%

100%

96%

80%

GCSE

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

A*/9/8

31.2%

38.7%

30.7%

27.9%

30.9%

38%

28.8%

A* – A or 9/8/7 Grades

48.8%

55.9%

50.8%

47.1%

49.2%

58%

48.1%

A* – B or 9/8/7/6 Grades

71.9%

75.1%

71.6%

70.8%

68%

78.1%

69.5%

Our commitment to fostering individual growth and academic progress is not only reflected in our exceptional results but can be seen in our Value Added (VA) scores.

Value Added (VA) is a measure of how much progress pupils make compared to expectations based on their prior achievements. It compares pupils’ actual results with predictions based on their previous academic performance.

Our A level VA score of 0.63 places us among the top schools nationally: 

  • 1st nationally for co-educational independent boarding schools  
  • 8th nationally for all independent schools  
  • 1st in Norfolk  
  • 17th nationally for all state and independent schools  

Our VA score of 0.6 for A level and IB combined again places us among the top schools nationally: 

  • 3rd nationally for co-educational independent boarding schools 
  • 10th nationally for all independent schools 
  • 1st in Norfolk 
  • 21st nationally for all state and independent schools 

Our Sixth Form exam results are equally impressive. Our average combined A level and IB result of 42.93 – where 50 is an A and 40 is a B – places us: 

  • 8th nationally for co-educational independent schools 
  • 3rd in Norfolk 

Our 2025 IB Diploma average of 37.2 places us: 

  • 42nd globally overall 
  • 18th nationally overall 
  • 1st in Norfolk 

We pride ourselves on the personalised level of support given to each pupil, many of whom have secured offers from Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol, York and Edinburgh and many other prestigious universities in the UK and abroad.

You can read more about why Value Added matters here.