Pupils across Hampshire celebrated another year's outstanding GCSE exam results on Thursday.
Around 14,000 pupils across the county sat the exams this summer and according to provisional results from schools 78.4 per cent, a record high, obtained five or more A* to C grade GCSEs, or equivalent. That is a 3.7 per cent increase on last year's figures.
A total of 61.5 per cent achieved five or more A* to C grade GCSEs including maths and English, which is an increase of 2.6 per cent on last year's provisional results supplied to us this time last year by schools.
The five or more A* C grades including maths and English is the Government's desired target for pupils leaving secondary education. Last year the five or more A* to C grade GCSEs including English and maths national performance was 55.2 per cent.
Among the schools breaking records was Testbourne School, in Whitchurch, where 69 per cent of students gained five A* to C grades, including English and maths, the school’s highest ever score and an eight per cent improvement on last year.
A total of 82 per cent of students gained an A* to C grade in English and 76 per cent in maths, and 85 per cent gained five A* to C grades overall, while 30 per cent achieved the new English Baccalaureate (EBac) standard, gaining five A* to C grades in English, maths, two sciences, a language and either history or geography.
Nearly a quarter of all grades at the school were A*s and As. Every student in full-time education gained between five and 14 GCSEs. No student left without qualifications. Headteacher Hilary Jackson said: “We are delighted that our class of 2011 has maintained the outstanding standards which Ofsted found when they visited us last year. These students, and their teachers, rose to the challenge superbly and I am so pleased that all their efforts and hard work have paid off."
Councillor Roy Perry, Hampshire County Council's executive lead member for children's services, said: "Congratulations to Hampshire pupils for their achievements and to our schools and teachers. These results reflect the hard work by both staff and pupils at schools across the county.
"I am especially pleased to see yet another year of improvement by Hampshire schools on the key measure of five good GCSEs including English and maths. There is a good deal of emphasis on GCSEs but it is important to note that pupils take a range of other courses and qualifications and all of them are to be congratulated for their efforts."
