Guernsey Press

GCSE results day - Guernsey 2020

GCSE results have been published - with teachers congratulating students on their results and resilience in the face of the pandemic.

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GCSE results day: Pictured are Blanchelande College students Christina Salisbury, 16 and Abigail Gill, 16. (28601983)

At the Guernsey Grammar School and Sixth Form Centre, 100% of students achieved five grades of 9-4/A*-C - including English and maths, with more than 13% of students achieving a grade 9/A* and over 50% achieving grade 9-7/A*-A.

Headteacher Kieran James said he was delighted with the outstanding results. ‘The results are as expected – a true reflection of the hard work that the students have put into their studies,' he said.

At Elizabeth College, 99.5% results were graded at 9 to 4 (equivalent to the old A* to C) and 58% graded 9 to 7 (A* to A equivalent). Twenty-seven (37%) Year 11 students gained 9 or more passes at grades 9 to 7 (A*/A equivalent), with two students achieving an impressive clean sweep of 10 passes at grade 9.

‘Our students have demonstrated impressive resilience and courage in facing the unusual challenges of the exams process this year. These results reflect the hard work and commitment that our Year 11 students have invested over the years and the support they have received from our dedicated staff,’ said Elizabeth College principal Jenny Palmer.

At Blanchelande College, 96% of students achieved at least five grades 9-4 across all subjects with 93% achieving five grades 9-4 including English and Maths. Some 49% of grades were 9-7 (or A* / A), which has been climbing for four years on the trot.

Robert O'Brien, the principal at Blanchelande College, said 'I am immensely proud of our students. Because their achievements have been in completely different circumstances this year, they had to be resilient, adaptable and determined to get results.

‘After everything they have been through, it's truly fantastic to see them get these results and beam with happiness. They can be absolutely confident that what they achieved is exactly what they would have had if they sat exams.'

He added: ‘The decision by the UK government to abide by the centre assessed grades means that everyone should have full confidence in the achievements of these students, and applaud them not only for their academic achievements, but also for their resilience. For a mixed ability school to be achieving 49% of grades at 9-7 is a tremendous achievement.

Ladies College achieved a pass rate of 99.4% of grades at 4-9.

Ashley Clancy, the Ladies College principal,' said: ‘We are really pleased with the results that the girls have got and hope that they’re happy with what they’ve achieved.

'I think the girls are very realistic. The difference between actually sitting exams and doing it through the algorithm and the predicted grades has had an impact on everybody in different ways. The way the students have been given the grades this year is different to previous years.

'What’s important, though, is that they are a reflection of the work they’ve done throughout their course. 'The teachers have worked really hard to identify what they believe was the right grade for us to put forward.

'Traditionally and historically and compared to other data, I think these results stand up really well and the girls should be really proud of what they have achieved. And I hope that it will give them the confidence that I think GCSE grades always give to students – to go on to the next qualification.'

More than half of the Guernsey College of Further Education’s students were affected by more results chaos after exam board Pearson pulled its BTec results on the eve of releasing them. However, those part-time, full-time, apprenticeship students, including adults who were not affected received top grades.

There was 100% pass rate for maths students with 65% achieving grades 9-4/A*-C.

In addition there was 100% pass rate and 100% achievement of grades 9-4/A*-C for English students.

The college’s principal Louise Misselke said she was very happy.

‘These results are excellent and I’m so proud of the students,’ she said.

‘We have adult students who are so inspiring and for them to have achieved this, I know what it can mean for them and see their joy.

‘For those affected by the BTec results, we’re doing everything we can - they may have to wait a little longer for their results but we’ve provided provisional results and hopefully they’ll be able to get these confirmed soon.’

La Mare de Carteret saw a GCSE pass rate of 42% at 9-4 (A* to C) – including maths and English, up 3% on last year. Headteacher Vicky Godley said: ‘It’s been a difficult year for us and the students too but the last week has been especially tricky for everyone. I think we’ve been through three sets of results this week which is quite impressive, but we got there in the end.

‘Our results have definitely been as we expected – there’s been an uplift this year compared to previous years, but they’re what we expected and they are within the students’ capabilities, so we are very pleased for them.’

Les Beaucamps High School headteacher Martin Haimes said pupils had done 'phenomenally well' with results set to be released centrally.

‘Obviously it’s been a very different year, but for me the focus is on our students who have now been rewarded after 11 years of hard work,' he said.

They have done phenomenally well, which we knew they would. In the end they we want them to go home happy with all they achieved, 90% of the year are going to further education, with some doing apprenticeships or entering employment. In a few weeks’ time they will be so engrossed in what they have moved on to that they will forget the nerves leading up to today.’

Gaynor Laird, assistant headteacher at St Sampson's High School said: ‘We are really happy with the results and they’ve gone up on last year. It’s difficult to give an accurate figures as students are waiting for a few B.Tech results to come in as well.

‘It’s been a really tough year for the students and we’ve all had to adapt to a different way of working. St Sampson’s is very proud of how the students and the staff embraced distance learning. But certainly for these Year 11s they’ve shown real resilience and determination, because they were very disappointed that they never got to sit their exams.'

Jon Furley, principal Les Voies School, said: ‘The results reflect the hard work that the staff and students are putting in as it does every year; there’s been some challenges in terms of how the English government have gone about sorting the qualifications.

'The students have all got as predicated and I’m really pleased that they’re getting recognised for their hard work. Two of our Year 11s have managed to achieve five A* - C including English and maths. All but one student have left with qualifications. 16 students in total took exams, seven from Year 11, one from Year 12 and the rest from Year 10.'

He added: 'We heard last night about B.Tech exams not issuing final results.'

St Anne’s School in Alderney achieved 100% pass rates at grades 9-1/A*-G again this year for the fourth year running.

In addition 77.8% pupils achieved at least five or more 9-1/A*-G grades with 66.7% achieving five or more qualifications at 9-1/A*-C including English and Mathematics.

The school’s headteacher Martin Winward said: ‘I am extremely proud of the achievements of all our pupils this year.

‘Year 11 pupils are testament to true resilience.

‘This year’s cohort was recognised early as having huge potential and I am delighted that pupils have either met or exceeded expectations living up to our school motto – "Inspired to Learn… Supported to Succeed".’