Back in May and June 2026 public exams dominated schooling for our eldest pupils. Across nine weeks, a grand total of 1106 public exam qualifications were sat by 228 pupils from Years 11, 12 and 13. These IGCSEs, GCSEs, AS-Levels and A-Levels taken by our pupils are also sat at the same time in British schools around the world and in the UK as well. The anxious wait for results is now over, with exam candidates learning how they fared as exam results were released over the past two weeks.
IGCSEs/GCSEs
622 individual IGCSE and GCSE qualifications were sat by 81 pupils across Year 11 in May and June of 2026. The results achieved were markedly better than last year and represent a typical successful year’s set of results when compared to recent years. 28% of all exam results were an A* (up from 21% in 2025) and almost half, at 47%, resulted in either an A* or an A grade (up from 46% last year). 88% of all exams scored at least a C grade.
There were many individual stories of excellence. Konstantinos Christoforos, Laura Nersesian, Ioannis Retalis and Xinwei Athina Su each scored nine A* grades. Aikaterini-Amalia Grammi-Trigkatzi and Ruijie Su both attained eight A* plus one A grade. Three other pupils, Georgios Depolo, Georgios Kotsonis and Sotiris Zafeirakis each earned seven A*s among their results.
AS-Levels
AS-Levels represent the halfway point through an A-Level course as well as being a stand-alone qualification. They are taken at the end of Year 12. In May and June 2026, 86 pupils sat a grand total of 291 AS-Levels at St. Lawrence College. This represents an almost 20% increase on 2025, when 73 pupils sat 243 AS-Levels.
By far the most common outcome among the AS-Levels taken was an A grade, with 100 of the 291 AS-Levels sat resulting in that top grade (there is no A* in AS-Level). As a proportion, this is 34% and thus slightly lower than last year’s 37%. The proportion of the 2026 AS-Levels that resulted in at least a C garde was 74%, which is the fourth best performance over the past five years.
Individual excellence abounded. Four A grades were achieved by George Anastassiou, Koralia Datsiou, Hyeyoon Hailey Jun, Anna-Lena Lampropoulou, Shangzheng Li, Zhu Julia Min and Constandinos Stathis. Ioanna Nikolopoulou attained 3As and 1B while Sophia Fotakidis, Tina Liras and Konstantinos Lymperopoulos each scored 3As.
A-Levels
A-Levels represent the pinnacle of British school educational qualifications and are taken by Year 13 pupils as they finish their schooling. In 2026, at St. Lawrence College, 61 pupils sat for a total of 193 A-Levels. 11% of these resulted in the top grade of A*. This was a higher proportion than in 2025 (10%) and also above the proportion across all A-Levels taken in the UK (9.5%).
37% of our A-Levels resulted in either A* or A grade, which was comfortably higher than the proportion across the UK, which is reported as 28%. Nevertheless, our 37% was, by a fraction, our lowest in the last three years and thus, a mild disappointment. More pleasing was that 84% of all A-Levels sat resulted in at least a C grade – a proportion that sits favourably with recent school history and is well above the UK’s 78% figure.
Once again there were some remarkable stories of individual excellence in performance. Athina Christoforou and Zhuoxuan Snow Ying each attained 3A*1A, George Tzoutzourakis managed 2A*, 2A,1B and Sofia Tzagkaraki-Kaseta scored 2A*, 2A. Other notable achievements included 2A*,A,B from Nikolaos Zafeirakis; 1A*,3A from Mohamed Abdel Fattah; and 1A*, 3A from Alexandros Vasileiadis. Xuefei Alice Zhang scored 4As, while Iliana Batzi, Maida Kourounlian and Max Stephenson each attained AAA.
On to university
These school-leaving children now progress to universities all over the world to study a range of degree courses as diverse as the locations of universities they are preparing to attend. Among the courses our school-leavers will study are Philosophy, Politics and Economics; Medicine; Law; Philosophy and Theology; Finance; Business Economics; Applied Medical Science; Hospitality Management; Chemical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering.
And where are they going? The biggest single destination by country is still the UK, with the University of Sheffield, the University of Nottingham, the University of Durham, the University of Bath, the University of Exeter, Queen Mary London and University College London (UCL) all admitting St. Lawrence College school-leavers this year.
A growing proportion of our pupils now go beyond the UK for their higher education however, and this year we see school-leavers heading to universities around the world, including Les Roches, Marbella, Spain, CUNEF Universidad, Madrid Spain; the University of Groningen, Netherlands; and the University of Southern California, USA. Some pupils will stay in Athens, with more than one school-leaver enrolling at the University of Nicosia (Athens campus).
The headmaster’s reaction to results
Speaking about the results from all public examinations, headmaster Phil Holden declared himself very satisfied. “What we have seen here, as we see every year, is that pupils who apply themselves consistently achieve very high standards in the public exams; whether that is at IGCSE, AS-Level or A-Level. Naturally I congratulate our pupils on their success, but I also congratulate, and thank, our wonderful teachers who made this success possible through excellent teaching across all the many years of schooling that led up to our pupils’ public examinations. Success at school is not measured entirely by grades in exams. Nevertheless, qualifications still matter to pupils and educational institutions alike. All our school community can take pride in what our pupils have achieved this year”.
