Students celebrate GCSE results under new grading system

Thursday 23 August 2018

Guernsey's secondary schools have handed out those all important envelopes to the island's GCSE students with predominantly happy faces as results were read out among groups of friends and families.

So far, Elizabeth College, Ladies College and the Grammar School are all reporting good results, with some students achieving the new top grade of '9'.

Many students Express spoke to said they have achieved the grades they need to go on to do their preferred courses or options from September onwards.

At The Ladies College, 57 students sat GCSEs this year with Katie Connolly, Hannah Langlois and Daisy Whiteman achieving all 9/A* grades and a further 13 students achieving all 9/8 (A*/A) under the new grading system.

The College said "all of the girls can hold their heads up high and be confident that they can say that they achieved their best and have choices about what they do next."

Pictured l-r: Imogen Mitchenall, Ingrid Morley, Millie Wenlock, Jasmine King, Louise Madden, Mary-Kate Hubbard all received their GCSE grades at the Ladies College this morning.

Jasmine King said she had been rewarded for her hard work which means she is able to continue at the College for her sixth form studies. Her friend, Ingrid Morley said she is staying at Ladies College to study for her A Levels which she said "I am very happy" about.

Also studying at the Ladies College were Lois Vidamour, Ella James and Jennifer Thomas and they were all equally pleased with their grades - achieving the results they need to continue their studies which will see all of them sitting A Levels at the Ladies College.

Overall the school achieved similar results to last year with "a strong performance across the board, including core subjects of English, Mathematics and Science."

96.5% of students at the Ladies College achieved five 9 to 4 (A*- C) grades, including English and Mathematics. 44.0% of GCSE grades were 9/8 (A*) grades, 68.5% of grades were 9 to 7 (A*/A) grades and 85.3% were 9 to 6 (A* to B). 

The schools said, "the results achieved by our girls are testament to their hard–working attitude, the dedication and professionalism of our teachers at College, excellent operational support and positive parental engagement. Thank you to everyone and huge congratulations to the students!"

Pictured: Blanchelande College pupils Mollie Wicks, Sarah Trimbie and Abi Thomson received their GCSE grades today. 

Early indications suggest another good year for Blanchelande College with the girls in year 11 so far reporting good GCSE results. Among those who were pleased with their own achievements were Mollie Wicks, Sarah Trimbie and Abi Thomson who have all secured places at the Sixth Form Centre to study A Levels. 

The College said "despite facing the more rigorous exam system for the first time, this year we’ve seen another increase in students achieving the top grades, with 38% of grades at 7-9 (equivalent to the old A*/A), up from 33% last year.

"Our mixed ability intake have done brilliantly, with 80% of students achieving at least five grade 4-9 results (including English and Maths). Many congratulations to all our students and their teachers who have worked so hard: we are very proud of you."

Elizabeth College is also reporting another "excellent year for the school" with 54% of passes graded A*/A or equivalent (grades 9/8/7) and 95% graded A*/C or equivalent.

All Year 11 students achieved a pass of C or above (or equivalent) in both English and Maths and 96% secured the key measure of 5 or more passes at grades A* to C including English and Maths. The College said the results were strong at the top end with twenty students attaining at least 10 A*/A or equivalent grades. Among those who were pleased with their personal achievements was Alex Tapp who received an 8 in English under the new grading system.

The 16 year old said "I am delighted and to get an 8 in English is great, I thought it would be more like a 6 or a 5, so to get an 8 is just amazing. I have always struggled with English so I worked really hard so to get an 8 is just amazing.

"I passed every one, it's a mixed bag from some just passes to some high passes, which I am really happy about, especially maths, which I thought may be touch and go so to come up with a pass in that I am over the moon."

His mum, Sam Tapp, (pictured above with Alex and sister Georgie) said: "I am ecstatic for him, just so proud of him. This is the last one going through GCSEs." 

Pictured: Students at Elizabeth College receiving their grades this morning.

Elizabeth College Principal Jenny Palmer said she is delighted with this year's GCSE results and what it means for the school's students in "enabling them to move on to the next phase of their education."

"They are a great reflection of the students’ hard work and also the dedication of our excellent staff," she said. "The results include many outstanding individual performances across the broad ability spectrum of our students, however, exam results are only one aspect of an excellent education. At the College we also place a strong emphasis on extra-curricular activities and the development of individual character, preparing our students for their next steps and future successes.”

Pictured l-r: Ewan Mauger, Nathan Bonner, Jonathan Hinchliffe, Owen Smith and Willem Dyas receiving their grades at the Guernsey Grammar School.

97.8% of students at the Guernsey Grammar School achieved a minimum of five GCSEs at grades A*-C (or equivalent) including English and Maths which headteacher Liz Coffey said is a fantastic result.

She said under the new grading system it wasn't expected that many students would receive grade 9s but 11% of pupils sitting GCSEs at the Grammar School did. Ms Coffey described that as a "great achievement."

The headteacher of Les Beaucamps High, Sophie Roughsedge, said the school had some of its best results, and was now "seeing the fruits of reforms" it made several years ago. The school achieved 74% A* to C in English Language and 72% in Maths.

“We are absolutely delighted with our results this year, which are a testament to the hardworking of our pupils and staff. This is also the first cohort of pupils who have followed a more challenging curriculum including triple science student by 25% of the year group,” she said.

“This year group has also taken a number of the new reformed and more rigorous English GCSE qualifications for the first time. Despite greater rigour, 53% of pupils achieved five A*s to C including English and Maths. We have seen some exceptional performances across several subject areas, including our vocational qualifications. None of today’s success would have been possible without our highly committed and dedicated team of staff and a strong working partnership with our parents.

“Huge congratulations must go to our pupils who have worked so incredibly hard and deserve these fantastic results. As a school we are immensely proud of everyone and we continue to have high ambitions and expectations for all our pupils.”

Results from La Mare de Carteret High School were the best students at the school have achieved in more than four years. The 2018 cohort achieved a 58% pass rate including five or more GCSEs (or equivalent) at grades A* to C (or equivalent) including English and Maths. The school's previous best recent results were in 2016 when 45.5% of students achieved this standard.

At St Sampson's High School, 47.3% of students met the standard of five GCSEs at grades A* to C (or equivalent) including English and Maths. This was pretty static with the 2017 leavers (48.7%) but up on the previous two years. 

Jonathan Furley, Headteacher at Les Voies School, said his students also had a great set of results which he was really pleased with.

75% of students at the school achieved five or more GCSEs at grades A* to G (or equivalent). The school has much fewer pupil numbers than other schools in the island. 

“This year is really positive news for us," Mr Furley said. "88% of students got all nine to ones, and overall we got 101 GCSEs achieved, including both year 10 and year 11 qualifications.

“It is a success across the board, 38% of the cohort achieved five A*s - Gs, which is really, really pleasing. To say five years ago people were coming out of here with no qualifications..this proves the huge steps forwards we have made. There are lots of big success stories.” 

Pictured top: Students including Lois Vidamour, Ella James, Jennifer Thomas and Alex Tapp were among those receiving their GCSE grades today.