Oh brother, we’ve made the grade!
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Success came at the double at Southmoor Academy as twin brothers clinched 21 A* and A GCSE grades between them.
Thomas and Elliot Hall picked up their outstanding results when they went along to the Ryhope Road school.
Thomas was thrilled with his seven A*s, three As, one B and one C and Elliot was also delighted with his eight A*s, three As and one B.
Both boys plan to stay on at Southmoor’s sixth form to do A-levels, but have different career paths in mind, Thomas aims to follow a path into psychology, while Elliot wants a career in law.
Thomas said: “We did do a lot of studying together. People have always compared us, but we don’t mind, we are not really competitive with each other.”
As well as being brothers, the boys are also good friends. Elliot said: “We do get on really well.” And, Thomas added: “Most of the time.”
Dr Phil Ingram, executive headteacher at Southmoor, said he was delighted with the results with the proporSixth tion of pupils gaining A*-C in English and maths rising by 4.2% to 65.3%, and the number of students getting five or more A* to C grades rising from 61% to 63%.
He said: “These results remain significantly above national averages, and early indications show them to be some of the very highest results in Sunderland.
“Naturally, with such high performance we are seeing record take-up for courses at Southmoor’s Form and with the calibre of entrant, we look forward to great results at A/S and A level next year.”
Dr Ingram is also executive headteacher at Sandhill View, which is turning round its fortunes.
Two years ago, it was said to have serious weaknesses by Ofsted bosses and rated as inadequate, but this week saw the students gaining five top GCSEs with A*-C grades rise from 36% last year to 46% this year.
There were also happy faces at St Anthony’s Girls’ Catholic Academy as the school celebrated a successful year of GCSE results.
This year 76% of girls achieved A*-C in both English and mathematics and 72% of girls achieved five or more A*-C GCSE grades including English and mathematics.
Headteacher Monica Shepherd said: “To have 76% of pupils achieve A*-C in both English and mathematics is a huge achievement. We’ve had building work going on for the past two years, so it’s been challenging times.”
“We are not really competitive with each other” THOMAS HALL