So how, in this unfriendly climate, have he and his colleagues been able to create a school where education blossoms? Where 86 per cent of children get Grades A* to C at GCSE? Where there are 1,500 applications every year for just 180 places? Where, in order to get into the sixth form, the majority of students have to gain seven grades A* to C at GCSE, and at least a B grade in the subjects they’ve chosen for A-Level? And where every youngster in Year 13 is going to university?