Hackney students get their GCSE results

Hugs: students celebrate their GCSE results. Photograph: Stoke Newington School

Schools and colleges across the borough open their doors today as students collect their GCSE results.

With results nationwide experiencing a dramatic fall, Stoke Newington School bucked the national trend with improved results this year.

Sixty-nine per cent of students achieved at least five A* to C grades, with three quarters of all pupils reaching the same benchmark in the core subjects of maths and English.

Headteacher Annie Gammon said: “We are very proud of our Year 11 students – every one of them. We know that they are ambitious for their achievements, they worked hard and have been well prepared and supported by our teachers.

“We continue to have excellent results in our creative subjects as well as students achieving well in the fundamentals of maths and English.”

Excited: pupils share their results. Photograph: Stoke Newington School

There were some outstanding individual performances including Lisa Sam-Attafuah, who was awarded nine A*s and two A grades, and Martha Cruz with ten A*s.

Crispin Truman, Chair of Governors, commented: “We are very pleased that students at our inclusive school are doing so well. We continue to achieve results which are well above national averages.

“Almost all our pupils made strong progress.”

There were huge smiles at Clapton Girls’ Academy with 75 per cent of students achieving A* to C grades, above the national average of 66.9 per cent.

Headteacher Cheryl Day commented: “I am absolutely delighted with today’s GCSE results. Once more we have achieved the double with outstanding A-level results last week too.

“Well done to our hard working students and staff. They deserve their success.”

All smiles: girls at Clapton Academy pose with their results. Photograph: Clapton Girls’ Academy

Lije Johnson and Georgia Jarvis were over the moon after they both gained eight A*s and four A grades.

Lije said she was “really happy” with her results: “The teachers went above and beyond to ensure we all did our absolute best. I am going to push myself to do even better in my A-levels at Clapton’s Sixth Form as I want to study medicine at UCL.”

Georgina thanked her teachers: “I am so happy and relieved now I know I can go on to study dance and history. The teachers were always there for us. Thank you.”

Khadija Patel was also delighted with her eight A*s and three A grades. She said: “I am shocked. My results are amazing. The teaching at Clapton is ‘one of a kind’ and I am so grateful to have had such supportive teachers.”

Cardinal Pole Catholic School is also celebrating an impressive set of GCSE results.

In maths and English, the proportion of students achieving A* to C grades was 70 and 69 per cent respectively, above the predicted national average.

Proud: headteacher and her students show off their results. Photograph: Cardinal Pole School

Headteacher Jane Heffernan described the results as a “rich reward”.

She said: “We are delighted to see that the hard work of all involved – students, parents and staff – had such positive outcomes, preparing them well for the next phase of their future.”

Onder Lilinc and Jedidiah Ubaldo were two of the standout pupils, both achieving nine grades that were either A* or A.

Students at Petchey Academy posted some impressive results with 72 per cent achieving at least five grades between A* and C, outperforming 2015’s cohort.

A new standard for comparing schools’ performances, known as Progress 8, is to be introduced next year. It will replace the current measure of the percentage of students achieving a C grade or higher in five GCSE subjects including maths and English.

The school’s principal Olivia Cole said: “With the uncertainly around changing performance measures and curriculum, our students have done very well to focus and come out with some excellent grades.

“I am very proud of their hard work and look forward to seeing them back in UG next year.”

At Urswick School, 42 per cent of students gained A* to C grades, but headteacher Richard Brown was critical of “new government thinking”.

Mr Brown said: “The government is constantly moving the goalposts. On some measures our results are slightly down but for the first time in the school’s history every student has achieved five or more A* to G grades.

“At Urswick all children are important to us and these results prove this. I am very proud of this year group who worked exceptionally hard to achieve these successes.

“Whatever the challenges posed by new government thinking, teachers work constantly to ensure their students succeed and deserve our thanks.”

Top performers were Nezihe Yay with 12 GCSEs, including nine A*s or A grades, and Head Girl Vanessa Lee with nine A* or A grades among her 11 GCSEs.

Sixteen-year-old Nezihe said: “They’re just what I was hoping for. I’m not sure what career I would like to go in to in the future but at the moment I’m just enjoying learning and studying.”

Nezihe will go on to study maths, history, French and philosophy, as well as religion and ethics at A-level.

Vanessa, 16, said that she was relieved to finally have her results: “I’ve been worrying about today all through the summer holidays but seeing my results has proved to me that hard work pays off.

“I spent a lot of time revising and stopped watching television, using my mobile phone and looking at social media and it definitely worked.”

Vanessa will join the school’s Sixth Form Academy in September, where she will study biology, chemistry, maths and history.

Delighted: Head Girl Vanessa Lee was joined by Cllr Bramble. Photograph: Urswick School

Local councillor Anntoinette Bramble, who is part of Urswick’s governing body, visited the school to congratulate students on their results.

Ms Bramble, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services at Hackney Council, said: “I’m really proud of all the students here, they’ve done really well.”

National GCSE results have dropped dramatically compared to last year, with the number of pupils achieving a C grade or above falling by an unprecedented 2.1 per cent.

The drop in the national average from 69 to 66.9 per cent is largely explained by a new government policy for England that means 17 year-olds who got a D or lower in maths or English last year must resit those exams. Consequently, more pupils overall took the tests.

However, there was still a 1.3 per cent fall in the proportion of 16 year-olds, who are taking the tests in the normal GCSE year, gaining A* to C grades.

More to follow.