School GCSE records tumble as students make the grade

THOUSANDS of pupils from schools across Staffordshire and Cheshire were toasting success today after achieving record-breaking results in their GCSEs.

The national results show 69.8 per cent of exam entries have been awarded A* to C passes this year. And 23.2 per cent of grades have been As or A*s - up from 22.6 per cent last year.

There is also expected to have been a rise in young people opting for physics, chemistry and biology, which are widely seen as more demanding than general science GCSEs.

Yet the Government's drive to get more teenagers to study foreign languages and humanities subjects, which form part of the new English Baccalaureate, has come too late to affect the subject choices of many of this year's school leavers.

The independent sector still dominates the exams league, with a glut of top marks.

At Newcastle-under-Lyme School, a quarter of all pupils’ grades have been A*s today and 56 per cent of GCSEs have been achieved at A or above.

Stafford Grammar School is just a whisker behind, with 53 per cent of GCSEs passed at A* or A.

In the state sector, pupils at St Joseph's College, in Trent Vale, notched up As or A*s in 45 per cent of their GCSEs.

Overall, nine out of 10 students have achieved at least five good passes, including English and maths.

They include Ruairidh McKenna, who gained four A*s and six As at GCSE. He has also been awarded an Arkwright scholarship to help him further his ambitions of becoming an engineer.

The 16-year-old, from Silverdale, said: "They give you £200 a year with it, providing you take certain subjects at A-level that feed into engineering degrees.

"I'll also be linking up with a company.

"My interest in engineering came from watching TV programmes like Top Gear, Grand Designs and Megastructures.

"I'd like to go into aeronautical or automotive engineering."

Ruairidh got to work on a design brief for a project on his GCSE product design course. He said: "My design was for an iPod dock that reflected post-modernism."

At St Margaret Ward Catholic School and Arts College, in Tunstall, one of this year's top GCSE scorers is Kieran Humpage, who plays for the school football team. He gained nine A*s and three As.

Overall, 65 per cent of students have achieved good passes in English, maths and at least three other subjects.

For several Stoke-on-Trent schools, today's results mark the end of an era as they are being replaced with academies.

At Mitchell Business and Enterprise College, in Bucknall, a record 50 per cent of pupils have achieved at least five A* to C grades, including both English and maths. Results are up eight per cent.

Headteacher Paul Liddle said: "We are going out on a high. It's fantastic for pupils. We've done them proud."

At Edensor Technology College, in Longton, results are up seven per cent, with 47 per cent of teenagers achieving the national standard.

And James Brindley Science College, in Chell, is also marking an increase, from 29 per cent, with 33.6 per cent of pupils gaining at least five A* to Cs, including English and maths.

But Berry Hill High has slipped back almost seven per cent, with 36.3 per cent of youngsters achieving the national standard this year. Meanwhile, the first results for Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy, in Blurton, show 39 per cent of students have made the grade.

At Holden Lane High, in Sneyd Green, 51.5 per cent of pupils have achieved five or more A* to Cs, including maths and English. And 33 per cent of pupils at Thistley Hough High, in Penkhull, hit this benchmark, although this was more than six per cent down on last year.

Birches Head High achieved an all-time record today, with 45 per cent of students gaining good passes in maths, English and at least three other subjects.

At St Thomas More Catholic College, in Longton, 57 per cent of teenagers reached this standard.

And in South Cheshire, students have also had plenty to celebrate today.

A quarter of pupils at Alsager School have notched up A*s or As. One of the best subjects has been Spanish, with eight out of 10 candidates getting these top grades.

Headteacher David Black said: "This is the first year we have entered students for GCSE Spanish and it has been a huge success."

Just shy of 72 per cent of Alsager's students achieved good passes in English, maths and at least three other subjects today.

At King's Grove School, in Crewe, 46 per cent of teenagers have reached this standard. Headteacher Trevor Langston said: "We are really pleased. A quarter of our pupils got at least three As or A*s."

In the Staffordshire Moorlands, Cheadle's Painsley Catholic College has set a new record today, with 82 per cent of pupils gaining at least five good passes, including English and maths.

Headteacher Stephen Bell said: "We are absolutely delighted. It shows students are achieving their potential. This year, we've introduced a number of strategies, including smaller class sizes, which has had a significant impact."

At Westwood College, in Leek, 66 per cent of students have achieved five or more A* to C grades, including maths and English, the best results in the school's history.

Top performers include Cara Preece, Emma Claydon, Bianca Cheung, and Mary Evenden, who all achieved a mixture of A*s and As.

At Cheadle High, 55 per cent of pupils reached the national standard today.

Across the Newcastle area, there are also many young people jumping for joy.

At Madeley High, a record 74 per cent of pupils gained at least five A* to Cs, including English and maths. And at Clayton Hall Business and Language College, seven out of 10 youngsters achieved this crucial level.

Seventy per cent of pupils have also reached the national standard at Sir Thomas Boughey High, in Halmerend.

They include Rebecca Layzell, who bagged two AS-levels early as well as achieving six A*s and two As in her GCSEs. Fellow Sir Thomas Boughey students Jack Hulme and Jamie Lee also gained AS-levels alongside high grade GCSEs.

Headteacher Dave Boston, who retires next week after 17 years in charge, said: "The results are so good, it's almost the perfect leaving present."

At NCHS The Science College, in Newcastle, 49 per cent of students have achieved good passes in maths, English and at least three other subjects.

Associate head Jill Adamson said: "The biggest thing we've worked on is getting pupils to believe in themselves. We've now smashed through our previous exam records."

At Clough Hall Technology School, in Kidsgrove, 43 per cent of students have reached the national standard.

Top performers at St John Fisher Catholic College, in Newcastle, include Elizabeth Ling, who can count eight A*s and two As among her 17 GCSE grades.

And teenagers who took music hit the right notes, with more than half of them scoring an A or above. Results at St John Fisher have also been particularly strong in citizenship, English literature and religious studies.