There was much to celebrate today as students received their GCSE results. An impressive 37% of all grades awarded were 9s and 30 students collected their envelopes to discover that they had achieved nine or more 9–8 grades – an outstanding accomplishment. Overall, 65.5% of all grades were at 9–8 and 85.4% were 9–7.
Headmistress Rebecca Dougall said: “What a wonderful set of results! Everyone at St Helen’s is so pleased for these students who should be so proud of the outstanding results that they have achieved. I pay tribute to the students’ hard work, and to the excellence of the teachers who have steered their path through their GCSE studies. Many of these students are incredibly busy people as performers in sport, in the performing arts and in many other areas of their extracurricular lives – and they have balanced this with amazing GCSEs.”
STEM remains strong with more than 50% of scientists averaging a grade 9 across Biology, Chemistry and Physics as separate or in combined sciences. This comes as no surprise as Biology is the most popular A level option at St Helen and St Katharine Sixth Form next year.
One standout student, Josephine, achieved an impressive ten grade 9s and one grade 8. She plans to pursue A levels in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Spanish. Her father, Adam, expressed his pride: “St Helen’s has prepared Jo brilliantly, as seen in her outstanding results. St Helen’s Sixth Form has a terrific platform for A levels and she is excited to be staying on. We’re glad that her hard work has finally come to fruition.”
Amelia is excited to be studying A level Biology, Chemistry, Economics and EPQ at St Helen’s Sixth Form – she achieved seven 9s and two 8s in her GCSEs. Her father, Mark, said: “It’s been a great day, and what a fantastic set of results for our daughter. Thanks to the teachers and the school as a whole.”
Another exceptional student, Beth, also achieved ten grade 9s and scored a stellar 100% in her Maths GCSE – something that even competed with seeing Taylor Swift this week in the excitement stakes. With a family background in science — Beth’s sister is about to start her medical degree and her mother is a biologist — Beth will be taking A levels in Biology, Maths, Further Maths and Physics. However, her mother, Sally, noted that it was St Helen’s that sparked her daughters’ interest in science: “St Helen’s has made Beth more confident.”
Humanities subjects also did brilliantly across the board with 48% of Drama students, 53% of Religious Studies students, 42% of Geography students and 47% of History students achieving grade 9. Parents of music scholar Sophia, David and Jill, commented: “We’re absolutely delighted, Sophia’s done really well and will be studying Chemistry, Biology and Music in September.”
It was not just Y11 collecting examination results today, as three of our Year 9s who were early entrants in GCSE Modern Foreign Languages celebrated their grade 9s. They joined the 48% of Year 11 students achieving a 9 in French, which enjoyed another stellar year at GCSE.
Students entering St Helen’s Sixth Form will benefit from the new Benedict Building – our fantastic new sixth form centre.
