Reigate Grammar reported 94% of grades at A*-B, Reigate College 84.5% at A*-C. Every figure the borough's sixth forms published, plus the 20 August review deadline.

Four sixth forms in Reigate and Banstead have published their A Level results for 2026, after grades were released on Thursday 13 August. Reigate Grammar School reported 94% of its A Level grades at A* to B; Reigate College, the borough’s sixth form college, reported 84.5% at A* to C; Dunottar School reported 71% at A* to B; and St Bede’s School in Redhill reported around 83% at A* to C. East Surrey College in Redhill had published no results figures on its news page when we checked on Friday 15 August.

Below is what each provider actually published, why those percentages cannot be lined up against each other, and the date that matters most now if a grade looks wrong: 20 August, which is also GCSE results day.

Reigate College

Reigate College on Castlefield Road (RH2 0SD) is the borough’s sixth form college. In its own results-day post it reported 61.1% of A Level grades at A* to B and 84.5% at A* to C, with 82.5% of students achieving at least one high grade (A* to B at A Level, or Distinction* to Distinction at BTEC).

Its other published figures: over 100 students got a clean sweep of A or A* grades across all three or four of their A Levels; 444 students achieved a full house of A* to B at A Level or Distinction/Distinction* at BTEC; 12 students had offers confirmed for medicine or veterinary science, of whom 80% got a place; and 100% of students taking the triple in performing arts achieved Distinction or Distinction* (Results Day Roundup 2026).

Principal Nick Clark said it had been “another phenomenal year, with students having secured places on the most competitive and at top universities, including Oxford and Cambridge and other Russell Group universities”, and that “a growing number are opting for high-quality apprenticeship programmes”.

One thing worth noting for anyone tracking the college year on year: the A* to C figure is up on 2025, when the college reported 83.7%, but the A* to B figure is given as 61.1% in both years, and last year’s post reported 166 students with a clean sweep of A and A* grades against “over 100” this year (2025 roundup).

Reigate Grammar School

Reigate Grammar School, the independent school on Reigate Road, reported the highest headline figures in the borough: 94% of A Level grades at A* to B, 76% at A or A*, and 38% of all A Level grades at A*. It said dozens of students achieved A* grades in every one of their subjects and 77 students achieved A* or A in every subject they studied, that 97% of BTEC results were awarded at Distinction, and that every A Level art student achieved an A*.

Leavers are heading to courses including medicine, management, physics, economics, history, English, engineering, liberal arts, law and languages, some on sports scholarships in the United States, and others into apprenticeships in engineering and technology, accountancy, banking and finance, including one with Schneider Electric (school announcement, 13 August 2026).

Dunottar School

Dunottar School in Reigate marked its centenary year with 71% of grades at A* to B and 34% at A* to A, the second successive year in which more than 70% of its grades have been A* to B. The school said every student secured a place at their first or second choice university, with the majority getting their first choice, and named Durham, Bath, Exeter and King’s College London among the destinations.

The school also set this year against 2023, saying A* to B results are up ten percentage points and A* to A up nine since then. Headmaster Mark Tottman said the results were “richly deserved”, and pointed at “the value added behind these grades. Whatever their starting points when they joined us, these students have gone far beyond” (school announcement, 13 August 2026).

St Bede’s School, Redhill

St Bede’s on Carlton Road reported that around 83% of students achieved grades A* to C in this summer’s A Levels and Cambridge Technical Awards, “with over 100 of the results being either an A* or an A grade”. Headteacher Adam Powell said outcomes were “very similar to last year’s, which were the best on record”, and that the majority of sixth formers secured places at their first-choice university, including Oxford and Cambridge, with others going to study medicine or into apprenticeships (school announcement, 13 August 2026).

Why these four numbers cannot be ranked against each other

It is tempting to put 94%, 84.5%, 83% and 71% in a table and call it a league. Do not.

Schools and colleges choose their own measure. Some publish A* to B, some A* to C. Some count A Levels only; others fold in BTEC, Cambridge Technicals or other level 3 qualifications, sometimes described as “or equivalent”. Reigate College’s headline includes BTEC results, St Bede’s includes Cambridge Technical Awards, and Reigate Grammar quotes A Level and BTEC separately. Two of the four are fee-charging independent schools, and Dunottar describes its own cohort as mixed ability; the other two take students on a different basis entirely.

The official statistics are also measured differently again. Ofqual publishes A and above and C and above for A Levels only, so a school’s A* to C is roughly comparable with “C and above”, while A* to B has no national equivalent at all and can only be set against that same school’s previous years.

For context, in summer 2026 Ofqual recorded 28.3% of A Level results in England at grade A and above and 78.1% at grade C and above, from 835,950 A Levels awarded to 320,505 students. Both are slightly up on 2025 (28.2% and 77.7%). In the South East the figures were 31.5% and 79.5% (Ofqual, Qualification results in England, summer 2026, table 8).

The fairest comparison is by type of centre, and it shows why local percentages differ so much before any school does anything at all:

Bar chart of the percentage of A Level results at grade A and above in England in 2026 by centre type: independent schools 48.6%, grammar schools 43.4%, sixth form colleges 25.6%, all state-funded 25.4%, academies 23.5%, further education establishments 12.8%, against an England average of 28.3%
A Level results at grade A and above by centre type, England, summer 2026. Source: Ofqual.

Independent schools awarded 48.6% of their A Level results at grade A and above this year; grammar schools 43.4%; sixth form colleges 25.6%; all state-funded centres 25.4%; academies 23.5%; and further education establishments 12.8% (table 9 of the same release). Ofqual also warns that centres self-report which category they belong to, so the table is only as accurate as those returns.

One more caveat worth carrying, because rival coverage regularly gets it wrong: Ofqual’s interactive map of results by local authority district assigns grades by the postcode of the exam centre, not by where the student lives. A district with a large selective or independent school ranks high partly on the results of children who live somewhere else entirely.

What it means for you

If a grade looks wrong, the clock is already running. The priority review of marking, which applies to A Levels, T Levels and level 3 vocational qualifications, closes on 20 August 2026 and is completed within 15 calendar days, so it is the only route that can still affect a university place this cycle. The standard review of marking and the clerical re-check both close on 24 September 2026, completed within 20 and 10 calendar days (JCQ post-results services).

Two things families routinely get wrong about this. First, you cannot apply directly: for students at a school or college, the request must be submitted by an authorised member of centre staff, with the student’s written consent held on file, so the first call is to the exams officer. Second, there is no grade protection. A review can lower a grade as well as raise it.

GCSE results day is Thursday 20 August, the same day as the priority review deadline. If you have a child collecting GCSE results and an older one considering a remark, both jobs land in the same morning.

If you are travelling to a university open day or a Clearing visit, the direct services from Reigate and Redhill are set out on our Reigate train times to London page, which covers the two separate routes and the realistic journey times.

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