GCSE Success For Wandsworth Students

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More pupils achieved A*-C in five or more exams

Secondary school students in Wandsworth were responsible for another success story on GCSE results day with figures showing a rise in the number of pupils getting five or more A*-Cs including English and maths.

Yesterday’s results came one week after the borough’s sixth form and college pupils bucked the national trend and raised their tally of top grades in this year’s A-level exams.

Councillor Kathy Tracey, Wandsworth’s schools spokesman, praised the efforts of students across the borough, and said the results were yet more evidence of the quality of local schools.

This year 63 per cent of pupils obtained five or more GCSEs including English and maths – a rise of 3 per cent compared to 2012. Chestnut Grove, in Balham, and Southfields achieved their best set of results to date.

Chestnut Grove saw an 11 per cent rise, with 72 per cent of its students picking up five or more GCSEs including English and maths while Southfields recorded a 10 per cent rise to 63 per cent. Saint John Bosco College and Battersea Park also achieved significant rises.

Also evident this year was an increase in the number of students passing the English Baccalaureate (EBacc), which recognises where pupils have secured a C grade or better across a core of academic subjects – English, maths, history or geography, the sciences and a language.

Graveney, Burntwood, Ernest Bevin and Battersea all made good improvements in the proportion of pupils achieving the EBacc – with Chestnut Grove improving on last year’s results by 24 percentage points.

Results nationwide appear to suggest about two-thirds of exam entries were graded between A* and C, with the overall pass rate falling marginally for the first time in the exam's 25-year history.

Cllr Tracey said: “All of our students deserve to be congratulated for their performances this year. Looking at the national picture this really is an impressive set of results, and to see an increase in the number of pupils getting five or more A*-Cs including English and maths demonstrates how well our young people have done.

“Praise must also go to the fantastic teaching staff we have working in our schools, who help make them some of the best around. Having seen such excellent performAugust 26, 2013the challenge going forward is to continue raising standards in all of the borough’s schools.”

According to education standards watchdog Ofsted, Wandsworth is home to some of the best schools in the country.

The last results released by Ofsted in July rated 94 per cent of the borough's schools good or outstanding. This score covers the borough's 78 primary, secondary and special schools and pupil referral units.

In comparison only an average of 78 per cent of schools in other parts of the country and 84 per cent in London have been found to be good or outstanding by Ofsted inspectors.

The results place Wandsworth in the top six of high performing local authorities in the country.

 

August 24, 2013