A record number of A* and A grades are being celebrated at Beaumont School, where head of year Ed Panting has commended GCSE pupils for “surpassing themselves”.
There were smiles and shouts of joy yesterday (Thursday) when students opened their results, particularly as many exceeded their very demanding target grades.
English and maths results proved very strong, while early entries from those in Year 10 achieved a whopping 30 A* grades.
Headteacher Elizabeth Hitch said: “It was a phenomenal result. Despite the concern over volatility of results nationally, our outstanding results have been maintained and we look forward to welcoming our largest ever intake into our new sixth form centre.”
• Nationally, A*-C grades across all subjects rose by 0.7 per cent, while A*-A grades remained unchanged at 21.3 per cent.
The number of 15 year olds taking GCSEs dropped by 40 per cent, to 489,190.
In English, A*-C grades dropped 1.9 percentage points to 61.7 per cent in the UK. The awarding bodies have said this is likely to be, in part, because of strong candidates taking advantage of the final November 2013 exams.
And in maths, A*-C grades increased 4.8 percentage points to 62.4 per cent. The awarding bodies have indicated that this is due to a number of things, including lower performing 15 year olds not being entered early, and high performing candidates who would have previously been entered in March now being entered in the summer.
Also, a picture has emerged of increased volatility in both English and maths, with results appearing to have hit hardest those schools with a greater number of students working at the C/D borderline.
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