GCSE students rewarded for their perseverance
STUDENTS and their families all over the island were celebrating GCSE exam successes yesterday having overcome a double lockdown during their studies.
The high school leavers suffered lockdowns during Year 10 and Year 11, when their external examinations were cancelled, and instead were judged on teacher-assessed grades.
ESC president Andrea Dudley-Owen said the results were a testament to the hard work and resilience of all the Bailiwick’s students.
‘The virus has had a huge impact on the way students have been able to study, however the results show that they have overcome these challenges and been rewarded for their perseverance.
‘They could not have done this without the similarly hard work of school staff, who have once again had to deliver teacher-assessed grades this year, and the committee are extremely thankful for all of the profession’s commitment in the last 24 months.’
Overall GCSE results from Bailiwick state school students has fallen by 3.6% year-on-year, but Education, Sport & Culture has urged caution when comparing the results with previous years.
A total of 69.6% of students achieved five or more 9-4 grade (equivalent to the old A*-C grades) including maths and English, compared to 73.2% in 2020.
Excluding the two key subjects, the 9-4 rate was 75%, down from 79.2% last year.
‘Due to the challenges presented by the pandemic, and the differences in the way grades were awarded, caution should be taken in attempting to compare directly headline figures to previous years,’ ESC said in a statement.
Teachers were responsible for setting, moderating and assessing the grades against a national standard.
At individual schools, and looking at five or more passes including English and maths, the Grammar School repeated its 100% 9-4 success rate of last year.
Les Beaucamps had the second highest pass rate among Guernsey state schools of 63.3% (up from 62.9%)
Le Mare de Carteret saw a large rise from last year’s 41.8% to 50.6% while there was a 77.8% pass rate at St Anne’s in Alderney (up from 66.7%).
Meanwhile, St Sampson’s High’s results were down to a 45.3% pass rate from 52.1% last year and equivalent results at Les Voies were down from 33.3% to 22.2%.
Taking English and maths out of the results saw the Bailiwick pass rate reach 75%, which was 4% lower than last year.
At the College of Further Education, 39.2% of students doing maths retakes achieved a 9-4 grade, with 55.6% attaining the same grade in English.
Le Murier Year 11 students gained accreditations and qualifications in functional skills, Asdan, City & Guilds and BTEC from entry level to level 2.
