City pupils Achieve A rise in GCSE passes

Peterborough has seen GCSE pass rates improve on last year’s results.

In total 69.7 percent of students achieved A *- C in English - up from 64 per cent in 2015.

There was also a rise in the number of A* - C maths grades, with 61.2 per cent of pupils achieving this compared to 60 per cent last year.

For both English and maths, 55.6 per cent of pupils were awarded an A*-C grade, up from 53 per cent last year.

The numbers achieving five A*-Cs including English and maths rose to 51.4 per cent, compared to 49 per cent in2015. In total, 2,251students took GCSE exams this year.

Councillor John Holdich, leader of Peterborough City Council and cabinet member for education, skills and university, said: “These results are fantastic and are a credit to the young people of the city who have worked extremely hard. They should be very proud of their achievements.

“Congratulations should also go to teachers and other school staff who have supported them to get the best grades possible.

“I am particularly pleased that students are making real progress in the key subject areas of maths and English. This puts them in a very good posi- tion for the next stage of their education.

“Currently 86 per cent of our schools are judged good or better by Ofsted and these results, coupled with the A-Level results, showthat our schools are also raising the bar whenit comes to attainment.”

Nationally, pass rates and the percentage of A*s both dropped this year.

Gary Perkins, head of school improvement for the council, said: “Three-quarters of our schools now operate outside of local authority control, however our relationships with them remain strong and we provide support whenever it is needed.

“I know that all of our schools are committed to improving attainment further and we will continue to support and challenge them as we want our results to be progressing year on year.

“Regardless of the grades young people achieve, it’s important they remember there is still plenty of support and advice available, whetherthey continue learning in sixth form or at college.”

‘These results are fantastic and are a credit to the young people of the city.’

Pupils from Nene Park Academy with their results