Pupils celebrate GCSE grades after ‘disruptive’ Covid years
RESILIENCE, POSITIVITY AND DETERMINATION HELPED STUDENTS ACHIEVE STRONG RESULTS, SAY TEACHERS
STUDENTS from across the country showed their resilience in the face of the Covid pandemic by achieving brilliant GCSE results.
Examinations were sat for the first time in three years following their cancellation in 2020 and 2021.
For those students who collected their grades this year, large parts of their studies were disrupted by lockdowns and school closures.
Safa Moosa, a student at Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School and Sixth Form College, in Blackburn, achieved grade 9, the equivalent of an A* in 13 subjects.
She plans to study A-levels in sociology, chemistry, psychology and computer science. Moosa said: “These have been such a difficult and disruptive two years.
“It is really humbling to get through it and achieve such fantastic grades.”
Another student, Hafsah Vali, also received the highest grade 9 in all 13 subjects. She wants to pursue A-levels in biology, chemistry, computer science and psychology, she said.
“With everything all young people have been through, and the return of exams, these grades mean so much more this year. It is not just exams that I have passed – I have also learned lifelong lessons on resilience, positivity and optimism too.”
More than 91 per cent of students at the school achieved a strong pass (grade 9 to 5) in GCSE English and maths, which are the best results in the school’s history.
Sir (Mufti) Hamid Patel CBE, the chief executive of Star Academies which runs the school, reflected on the unique circumstances of this summer’s results.
He said: “With all the disruption of the past two years, and the way grades have been calculated this year, it is hard for a school to compare this year’s results with previous years.
“However, at its core, today is about our young people overcoming adversity and each and every one of them going on to realise their value and achieve their dreams. We are delighted that the results they have received mark another milestone on their journey towards that wonderful future.”
A student from Essa Academy in Bolton
spoke of his dream of becoming a pilot after he worked hard to achieve top grades. Adil Khan was awarded four 9s and five 7s, the equivalent of four A*s and five A grades.
The 16-year-old admitted he had to pull his socks up in year 10 after lower grades were predicted for him.
He said: “It’s a relief. I thought I would do a lot worse in some subjects. I put the effort in at the last minute and I’m glad it paid off.
“I’m going to go to college and do Alevels – maths, physics, and psychology. And at university, I’m going to do a degree in aerospace engineering.
“After that, I’m either going to go into engineering or try and become a pilot through pilot school. That’s my dream job, a pilot.
“It shows that if I put the effort in, I can definitely achieve more. I used to get 6s and 7s, now I put the effort in the last two years, and it’s paid off with four 9s.”
Martin Knowles, the Essa Academy headteacher, said, “The disruption to learning over the past two years cannot be underestimated. These wonderful students epitomise
resilience and ambition which has enabled them to succeed.”
The Queen Elizabeth School in Barnet, followed up its brilliant A-level scores with record-breaking GCSE results, with 85.6 per cent of GCSEs awarded grade 8 or 9. There were a number of impressive results, with 28 pupils recording 9s across all their full GCSEs. Vigaashan Asokan’s performance in economics was the best in the country, according to the examination
board, OCR.
The headmaster, Neil Enright, said: “This is a super performance from our Year 11 boys, who faced significant disruption because of the pandemic in the first year of their GCSE courses. The results for the top grades are simply terrific.
“These pupils had to cope with homelearning, close-contact isolation, stringent health and safety measures and frequently changing routines. Yet their results indicate that, while the methods used by them and their teachers were somewhat different from normal years, they have delivered on their potential.
“They worked diligently and with dedication, were always mature about the challenges, and were enthusiastic about embracing all the opportunities available to them, both within and beyond the classroom.”
At Alperton Community School in Brent, London, 32 per cent of students achieved the top grades (9-7) in English and maths. There were 182 grades at 9-7 in the sciences and in total, students achieved 658 grades at 9-7.
Ritesh Makvana was the star achiever with grade 9 in English literature, maths, further maths, biology, chemistry, physics, geography and Gujarati.
He said “It has been hard work and the teachers have helped me so much. I am one step closer to achieving my aspirations.”
Students Jeeya Parekh and Dhruv Patel
achieved all 9s in their subjects at Claremont High School, also in Brent.
Private school UCS Hampstead celebrated its best-ever GCSE results with 53 per cent of all grades 9 and 77 per cent graded at 8-9. A remarkable 16 students scored a clean sweep of all 9s.
Samir Rahman was one of the students who achieved grade 9s in every subject.
“We had a lot of fun over the last two years, not just in lessons but also in our co-curricular activities. I played first team cricket throughout the year, even during the exam season, and it was brilliant,” said Rahman, who will be going on to study maths, chemistry, biology and German at the school’s sixth form.
The headmaster Mark Beard said: “I am delighted for this particular cohort, who deserve such fine outcomes. Along with their peers across the nation, they were thrown into lockdowns and remote learning at a sensitive moment in their lives, and it is lovely to see their resilience and determination win through.”