‘A fantastic set of results’: York students excel in GCSEs

A long summer of waiting was over today as York students received their GCSE results.

And they have excelled. York scored a five per cent increase in students attaining the English Baccalaureate, while 66 per cent of pupils gained 5+ A*-C grades (including English and maths).

This is a 2.5% increase on last year’s result, going against the national trend of slight decline.

Cllr Stuart Rawlings, cabinet member for education, children and young people, said:

Here are some of the stories from York schools.

What a year!

All Saints RC School reports a record year for GCSE results both overall and individually.

Thirty Year 11 students achieved over 8 or more A* and As. Some of the biggest smiles were on some of our special needs students.

Head teacher Bill Scriven said:

Chair of governors Peter Cannings said: “I would like to congratulate everybody and express my gratitude to all the staff for their care for each individual student and their continuing drive and determination.”

Best ever progress

Following on from a great set of A level results, Joseph Rowntree School students recorded the best ever results at Key Stage 4 in terms of progress made from the end of Key Stage 2.

Altogether 64% of Jo Ro students achieved five GCSEs including English and maths, and the leadership team described as “superb” the progress students made across a number of subjects such as English, maths, science and the arts.

More than 20% of students taking GCSEs this summer achieved five or more A* or A grades, and 10% of students achieved eight or more A* or A grades.

Head Richard Crane said:

Some Jo Ro students with multiple A*/A grades

‘Exceptional young people’

Students at Huntington School achieved many individual successes as well as an impressive set of schools records.

The school saw

• 70% of students gain A*-C GCSE grades in English and mathematics, an improvement of 3% on last year
• more than 40% of students attained the full set of English Baccalaureate qualifications, Huntington’s best figure ever
• 12% of students attaining ten or more GCSEs at grades A*/A, another record
• 30% of all entries awarded A*/A grades, our best ever percentage of top grades at the school.

One of the star performers is Lucy Edmunds who gained 11 A*s and an A in Further Maths this year, to add to her GCSE Latin A* result from last year, giving her a grand total of 12A*s and an A.

Head teacher John Tomsett said:

Huntington students with 10 or more A*/A grades

Excellent results

Over in Fulford School 81.7% of students achieved the new Basics performance measure of A*-C in English and maths.

Altogether 35.7% of entries were at A*/A with a substantial increase in the A*/A grades achieved by girls. Thirty two students gained at least 10 grades at A*/A with 13 of these students achieving 12 A*/A grades.

And the year group obtained a 100% pass rate at 5 GCSE grades A*-G.

Head Lorna Savage said:

Incredible effort

At Millthorpe School 70% of students achieved five passes at grade C or better including both English and maths, a 4% improvement on 2015.

They also established a new best of 44% for the government’s favoured English Baccalaureate (EBacc) measure – which places the school in the top 12% in the country. And one in eight students achieved 10 or more GCSEs at Grade A or A*.

Head Trevor Burton said he was very proud of his students.

Outstanding achievements at Millthorpe

Significant improvement

At Canon Lee School the Year 11 students have secured a set of results that show significant improvement upon last year.

At least a dozen students have gained results that are predominantly A and A*s and many have made significant progress in relation to their targets.

Principal Helen Dowds and vice-principal Mrs Johnston thanked all the parents and staff for their hard work and commitment towards supporting the school and making certain the children in our care are successful.

They said:

Exceeding expectations

Archbishop Holgate’s School students are once again celebrating results that exceed the expected performance of the top 25% of similar schools nationally.

Altogether 74% gained A*-C in Maths and English which is the highest the school has ever achieved.

And 23% of the year group achieved 5 A* and A grades.

Head Andrew Daly said: “I would like to thank all our staff, our students and their parents for their hard work and commitment to the school, which has rightly been rewarded with excellent grades for themselves but also record results for the school.”

Deputy head Alexis Green-Harding said:

One in a millennium!

At York High School the proportion of Year 11 students who have gained five good GCSE grades has almost doubled this year compared to 2015.

Head David Ellis said: “We were extremely disappointed with the way that grade boundaries were moved in 2015 which had a negative impact for our students a year ago but I am incredibly proud of the way that the whole school community has risen to the challenge in the last 12 months resulting in the progress we have made this year.”

Associate head teacher Rod Sims said students had responded brilliantly to the extra demands that staff placed on them.

He said:

One pupil celebrating results is Chloe Stead who achieved 7 GCSEs at grade C. Chloe was the first baby born in York in the new millennium.

Mr Ellis said: