Schools in Bath have been celebrating as envelopes were opened by students across the city yesterday to reveal another year of outstanding GCSE exam results.
Prior Park’s GCSE Class of 2015 has not only continued the College’s exceptional record of achievement but raised the threshold of exam results in almost all statistic brackets.
There was much celebration as envelopes were opened, with 54% of all passes being at grade A or better and, further, nearly a quarter of all passes being at the highest A* grade.
Most pleasing of all was that 1 in 5 students achieved at least 10 passes at grade A or better.
Stand out performances included 11 A* and 1 A from Jonathan Mallet, 11 A* from Zara Neill, 10 A* and 1 A from Rosalie Wright, 10 A* from Caroline Ingram, with Grace Hunter, Imogen Parsons, Lucy Roberts, George Rebello, Gabriel Deasy and a number of others following hot on their heels.
Headmaster James Murphy-O’Connor said: “There was a great feeling of celebration this morning as our students opened their results surrounded by family and friends.
“GCSE is arguably the students’ first real milestone in an academic sense, and one in which they learn the rewards of hard work.
“We celebrate not only those who achieve the very top grades, but all those students who exceed their own expectations. Prior is a busy school with so much asked of the students in all areas of school life, and we congratulate them all.”
There were also scenes of joy at King Edward’s School as pupils collected their GCSE results.
With 44% of entries at A* and 73% at A* or A, there was certainly much to celebrate. 41 pupils achieved straight A*/A grades, whilst 27, more than a quarter of the cohort, gained 8 A*s or better.
In scoring a remarkable 13 A*s, Sasha Putt made it a memorable seven days for the family, as he followed up big sister Stassia’s equally impressive 4 A*s at A Level last week.
The siblings now have 29 A*s between them at GCSE and A Level so far.
The Classics department led the way, with a 100% A*/A success rate across Latin, Greek and Classical Civilisation, matched again this year by Drama.
Amongst those subjects which follow the challenging IGCSE courses, Spanish returned an impressive 90% A*/A, whilst 60% of all entries in Maths and the Sciences were at A*.
Headmaster, Mr Martin Boden, paid tribute to both pupils and staff, commenting: “A huge amount of hard work has gone into achieving these excellent GCSE results, and all involved deserve the highest praise for their efforts.
“It is to their enormous credit that the boys and girls have performed so well whilst also making striking contributions to all aspects of School life over many years.”
Mr Boden added: “I wish all of our Year 11 pupils the very best for the next stage of their education.”