WAY TO GO CHLO
Heart swap girl joins region’s teens’ exam joy
THE number of pupils achieving top exam results has dropped across the North East – prompting some campaigners to blame the Government.
Like schools across the country, the region saw a fall in the numbers of children achieving the top A and A* grades.
In the North East the drop in the number of students achieving the top grades was 0.3%, the lowest fall across England, but the region lags behind in the numbers of As and A*s achieved with just 17.3% of passes being at those top grades – the second lowest number in England.
However, while the region did experience a fall in the number of A*-C grades compared with 2015 – down 2.1% from last year’s 67.2% – figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) show that the North East sits much closer to the national average for GCSE success than it has been in the past.
Some have suggested that the overall drop is partly explained by the significant number of pupils aged 17 or over who were required to resit English and maths.
An extra 31,038 entries for English and 42,649 in maths may have skewed this year’s results, as candidates resitting these exams have achieved lower grades than their younger counterparts taking the exam for the first time.
Mike Parker, director of SCHOOLS NorthEast, the body which represents all of the region’s schools, said the dip was a reflection of a ‘onesize-fits-all’ national education policy which places heavy emphasis on ‘core’ subjects and encourages schools to focus on these.
He said: “There are significant issues stemming from this year’s results that need addressing. The Government’s emphasis on the English Baccalaureate and the new Progress 8 assessment criteria seem to be putting schools off teaching more creative and vocational subjects.
“The Government should reconsider its approach and make sure it provides all pupils with the opportunity to excel, whether it is in English and maths or design and technology.” Despite the downward trend, plenty of schools and students were celebrating.
Many of the region’s schools netted their best ever results this year.
In North Tyneside, Churchill Community College and Norham High School both saw record grades.
At Norham, 54% of students achieved five or more A*-C grades, a dramatic rise of 19% on last year.
In Newcastle, teachers at the city’s biggest school, Kenton School, laid on a spread of sweet treats to help students celebrate some of the school’s most impressive ever scores, with 78% of students getting A*-Cs in English and 63% getting the same good grades in maths.
Nationally, a gender gap was clear, with 71.3% of entries by girls getting aC grade or above compared with 62.4% of boys. But in Newacastle, St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School bucked that trend, with more than a quarter of pupils at the all-boys school getting A or A* grades, and record results for the school. And their were some stunning individual successes. At Bede Academy, in Blyth, Northumberland, rugby star Tom Marshall, who captains the Northumberland county team for his age group and is in the Newcastle Falcons U18 development programme at the age of 16, proved he has brains to match his brawn, achieving three A*s, six As and one B grade. And at Kenton School, it was a very special day for the Entwhistle family, as bright twins Jessica and Lauren collected an impressive 10As and 3A*s, along with a handful of Bs and Cs, between them.