High Schools Celebrate Top Exam Results
Local high school are celebrating after excellent performances from their students in the recent GCSE and A-Level examinations. This year is the first the new 9-1 GCSE system, seen by many as extra-tough, has been in force for most subjects (Grade 9, the top grade, is equivalent to a high A*). A-Level qualifications have also been subject to recent reform, making this year’s student successes all the more impressive.
Cheadle Hulme School has had a fantastic raft of results, with 42% of GCSEs achieving a Grade 8 or 9; 79% of their A-Level students also achieved grades A*-B or higher. The school has also had success in the Pre-U examinations (an alternative to A-Levels), including six students achieving a Grade D1 (a grade higher than A*). Excitingly, GCSE students staying on at the school will be the first to study in its brand new Sixth Form Centre. Headteacher Neil Smith said of this year’s extra-challenging exams: “The reformed GCSE and IGCSE qualifications are hugely demanding, our students have been immensely successful in meeting these high standards.”
Girls at Alderley Edge School have had similar successes, with 30% of all GCSEs receiving a Grade 8 or 9.
In addition, almost half of the school’s A-Levels were at the highest grade; this is despite a widely-reported dip in the number of top grades awarded nationally. 40% of the school’s A-Level students are heading on to study STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects at university (as reported earlier by Mums & Dads), showing the school really succeeding at encouraging more girls to consider science-based careers.
At Manchester Grammar School, an impressive 45% of GCSE passes in subjects using the Grade 9-1 system received a Grade 9, and seventeen students achieved a Grade 9 in all their subjects.
The school’s A-Level cohort did similarly well. MGS High Master, Dr Martin Boulton, praised his students’ achievements in many areas of life: “These young men, who have achieved so much academically, have also excelled in sport, music, drama, and so many other areas of life at MGS.”
Special commendation has been given to two students from Hulme Hall Grammar School, Head Boy and Girl Joe Hayes and Yashni Vithlani.
The pair, from Didsbury and Tameside, received 19 GCSEs between them. This was alongside their Head student duties, which included being ambassadors for the school and supporting younger students. Yashni thanked her school for its support: “I started here as a shy 2 year old in 2005 and since then, Hulme Hall has given me the confidence to believe in myself.”
GCSE students from Macclesfield’s King’s School were also happy with their results, with over a third receiving at least nine grade 7-9 passes. Several students also took Further Mathematics, with two, Jacob Brown and Wadoud Charbak, receiving an A^, a special grade for this subject equivalent to an A* with distinction. At A-Level, 40% of the school’s grades came in at A/A*. Students are heading on to study a wide range of courses, including Art, Motorsport Engineering, Medicine, Law and PPE.
Manchester High School for Girls is also praising its students’ exam success, with half of GCSE grades awarded an 8 or 9 and 91% of A-levels an A*-B. One of the school’s delighted students is also an up-and-coming tennis star. Holly Staff is Under 18 and Under 16 British Tennis Singles Champion, and received eight GCSEs after doing her studies alongside an intense training and competition schedule.
Nearby Withington Girls’ School have added several top GCSE grades to a year of tremendous A-Level success, in which 31% of A-Levels achieved the top A* grade. 55% of the school’s GCSE results came in at the top grade available.
Headmistress Sarah Haslam expressed pleasure at the prospect of supporting these hardworking students, as well as students new to the school, in the coming two years of sixth form study.
Stockport Grammar School’s A-Level results, meanwhile, include a 100% pass rate and 77% of all grades awarded A*-B. 43 students achieved a Grade 9 in nine or more subjects. Students at schools across the Stockport borough have performed well, with 66.9% of students achieving a Grade 4 or above. Several high schools in Manchester have also been celebrating, including Parrs Wood High School, where 18 students received at least three A*/A A-Levels and three are heading to Oxbridge. Both the girls’ and boys’ versions of Altrincham Grammar School have also seen excellent GCSE and A-Level results.
These fantastic results from across the region, often bucking national trends, suggest very promising futures for young people in the area, whether heading onto further study or starting their careers.
