Fantastic GCSE results
I am delighted to be able to report the amazing success of our Year 11 students in their GCSE examinations. We are all very aware of the major changes that have been taking place at GCSE level and that the ‘new-style GCSE exams in England are the most difficult since the end of O-levels in the 1980s’. We must congratulate our Class of 2017 who have achieved the best results at GCSE for some years.
These are the first results of the revised GCSEs in English and Maths with a grading system using numbers from 9 to 1. The other subjects have the traditional A*-G grades. We also see that the new Grade 7 and above is equivalent to an A grade and above. This has been a very challenging two years for our students and staff with the introduction of the new grading system and increased rigour in these qualifications. Today we celebrate the achievements of all students at all ability levels since they have done remarkably well.
Once again almost 100% of our pupils achieved 5 Grade 9/A*- Grade 4/C GCSE grades or equivalent. Of these almost 85% have achieved Grades 9 - 4 in English and Mathematics. Our results at Grade 7/A and above are once again well above the national average and the percentage has increased against a drop nationally.
Our students have reached their challenging targets and it is with great pride we can report that students are making excellent progress. We are particularly pleased with our results at the new Level 9 Grade with over 6% of students achieving this new prestigious grade – double the national average. In English Literature we had almost 10 % of students with a Level 9 which is three times above the national average.
Congratulations to every student in the Class of 2017 your parents will be justifiably very proud of your achievements.
Our students have excelled at the top grades of 9/A* and Grade 7/A with over a third of our students achieving these grades in 5 or more of their subjects. In fact over 35% of all entries were at Grade A*/A level 7 or above.
There have also been many individual success stories. The following students gained at least nine Grade 7/A grades or above Ester Batchelor, Uwais Binamin, Harry Blackburn, Jonathan Bolton, Rosie Breslin, Lucy Connors, Emma Crampton, Joshua Craven, Emily Cray, Amelia Cutbill, Joseph Danter, Rohan Dehele, Georgia Green, Philippa Guck, Laura Hilton, Caitlin Hubbard, Nicole Ingram, Lucy Jones, Samuel Jones, Daniel Laugharne, Kathryn Mackiewicz, Jake Martin, Maximillian Nagra, Thomas Parkin, Madeline Reid, Thomas Rose, Alisha Sharma, Alexander Smith, Annabel Taplin, Miranda Vaughan, Freya Walker and Kyle Watt.
The most outstanding results however were achieved by Caitlin Hubbard, Kathryn Mackiewicz, Miranda Vaughan and brother and sister Lucy and Samuel Jones (shown below with Mr Murphy) who all gained at least 6 A* and 4 Grades at either Grade 9, 8 or Grade A in every one of their 10 GCSE subjects. Lucy just pipped her brother by one A*! These are truly remarkable results.
I must thank all my colleagues who are an outstanding team of staff who guided, coached and inspired our students through five years of learning. Without their professional expertise, stamina and endless patience these results would not have been achieved.
We are looking forward to welcoming and celebrating their fantastic success over the next two days as they enrol with students from other schools in the area into our very popular and successful Sixth Form.
The Class of 2017 is a fantastic group of young people and their achievements and progress are very well deserved. Their impact across Arden over the last five years has been exceptional they have been outstanding ambassadors. We wish every one of them all the very best for the future and every success in their lives ahead.
Martin Murphy
Principal
24 August 2017
