Celebrations all round as students pick up GCSE results

Les Voies certainly had a reason to celebrate today as the school saw its first student, Declan Benwell, gain five A* to C grades at GCSE level or equivalent, including English and maths.

Head teacher Jon Furley was delighted at Declan's achievement and what it meant for the school as a whole and said all 12 students who took GCSEs or equivalents had earned a qualification.

There was a total of 91% success rate in students achieving A* to C grades.

Blanchelande school came out on top in Guernsey with 97% of students achieving at least five 9-4 grades (the equivalent of A* to C) including English and maths, which was a 10% increase on their figure of 87% last year.

Blanchelande Principal Robert O'Brien said he was delighted with the results.

'The students worked extremely hard and should be justly proud of their achievements.'

Ladies College were not far behind with 96.3% of students awarded grades 9-4, including English and maths.

Principal Ashley Clancy said students should be thrilled with their individual achievements. 'The fact that the cumulative results are better than last year is encouraging for everyone at College. We continue to be tremendously proud of our students' achievements.'

Elizabeth College were similar and 96% of students secured five or more 9-4 grades including English and maths.

Principal Jenny Palmer said the results reflected the broad ability range of the students.

'This set of results reflects the hard work and commitment that our Year 11 students have invested and the support they have received from our dedicated staff.'

'I am really pleased that almost all students have achieved results which will enable them to move on to the next stage of their education.'

Although many Grammar School students gained high marks, the overall figures for the school were lower than expectations according to head teacher Kieran James.

'It is therefore important for us now to analyse and reflect upon our internal processes to identify which of a number of possible factors have led to these lower than anticipated outcomes,' he said.

Despite 95.5% of students receiving five or more grades 9-4, only 88.6% received this with English and maths included – last year it was 97.6%.

Mr James said many students had only narrowly missed Grade 4 English and maths and that the school would support them to ensure they achieved a higher grade.

'It is important that we celebrate each student's individual successes, both in their academic outcomes and their wider achievements.'

Many students were also celebrating at the island's High Schools. Deputy head of St Sampson's High Adrian King said the school had seen improvements across the board on previous years with fantastic individual results.

The school had a 48% pass rate of grades A*-C or equivalent, last year it was 47.3%.

Les Beaucamps High School were delighted with results and a significant number of students will now either go on to Sixth Form or the College of Further Education.

A total of 53% of students achieved 9-4 grades including English and maths.

Although the grade pass rate of La Mare de Carteret High School was not yet known, head teacher Vicky Godley said all the students had gained a qualification.

'We've done very well in English,’ she said, and there was a 100% pass rate among students taking RE, PE and music.

The College of Further Education also received results for vocational qualifications equivalent to GCSEs today. Principal Louise Misselke said she was absolutely overwhelmed with the results, which were well above the National average and improved on the results of last year. 'Students have excelled themselves,' she said.

The Level 1 pass rate was 93%, a jump from 83% last year, and Level 2 was 95% increasing from a pass rate of 92% in 2018.

At St Anne's in Alderney, 37.5% of students took Functional Skills courses with 80% of those achieving Level 2 in English and 43% in Level 2 maths. However, although 56% of GCSE students achieved five or more 9-4 grades, only 19% achieved this with English and maths included.

Deputy head teacher said predictions for this cohort were lower because of the demographic make up. 'We have very low numbers in this school and each one of our 16 pupils account for a large percentage, meaning our figures fluctuate from year to year. All of our pupils met or exceeded their potential so we're really proud of them.'