STUDENTS and schools are celebrating after GCSE results surged to an all-time high.
The proportion of pupils awarded top grades has risen to record levels after exams were cancelled for the second year in a row due to Covid-19.
Results were determined by teachers and students were only assessed on what they have been taught during the pandemic.
Overall, 28.9 per cent of UK students were awarded one of the three top grades this year - up by 2.7 percentage points on last year, when 26.2 per cent achieved the top grades.
In 2019, when exams were last held, only a fifth (20.8 per cent) of entries achieved at least a 7 – the equivalent of an A grade.
Dorothy Stringer High School headteacher Matt Hillier said he is confident all his students are fully prepared for the next stage of their education, despite the disrupted learning. Results at Stringer were up on 2019 results, with 91 per cent of students achieving a grade 4 or better in English and 81 per cent in maths.
Alice Ward was Stringer’s top performer – she achieved an A in FSMQ Additional Maths (A-Level 3 qualification), while Eve Sharma and Sam Patterson both achieved ten GCSEs at grade 9.
Sam, a competition swimmer, had to balance early morning training sessions alongside school work over the years.
He is due to study chemistry, biology and maths at Bhasvic in Hove, with a view to studying medicine or biochemistry at university.
“It’s not what I was expecting, but what I was aiming to get,” he said. “The last couple of years have been tough with Covid, but I decided this was my goal and I was going to work towards it.”
Hove Park School headteacher Jim Roberts praised the hard work of both the students and staff.
“The challenges of the last year should not distract us from acknowledging and celebrating their success,” he said.
“The results are a true reflection of students’ commitment to their studies and resilience. They were also supported by staff that have gone above and beyond to provide high quality teaching and learning.”
Hove Park pupil William Wilkes, 16, said: “I think it is better because you are judged on your behaviour for a whole year rather than an exam which is basically testing your memory skills. I think I have benefited, and I am ecstatically happy with my results.”
Lewes Old Grammar School Aidan Ashcroft achieved great grades despite suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome.
He achieved one grade 9 and four grade 8s, as well as one GCSE in grades 7, 6 and 5.
Aidan, who has suffered from the condition since 2019, was delighted. “My condition means anything I do, like get the train and go into town, can be a bit exhausting and it takes me ages to recover, so managing to get these grades feels like a real achievement,” he said.
“I’ve struggled to be in school all day every day, so the school have been amazing and only asked me to come in for certain key lessons. They’ve really helped me work around it.”
At Eastbourne College, the most achieved grade was a 9, the highest possible, with a 100 per cent pass rate for all pupils.
Outside the core subjects, the highest achievements were in DT, drama, French, history and Latin.
Three pupils achieved grade 9 in all ten of their GCSEs, while 18 pupils below Year 11 passed their maths GCSE.
Headmaster Tom Lawson said it was a “fantastic day of results”.
"We're enormously proud of our pupils' achievements, especially considering the challenges of the past 18 months,” he said. "For grade 9 to be the most achieved grade is wonderful news."
Meanwhile, Brighton Waldorf School in Roedean Road has been celebrating a big improvement in results from last year.
In 2020, the school had a pass rate of 86 per cent, while this year it has managed 93 per cent.
This includes 100 per cent pass rates in English, higher maths, art, chemistry, German, physics, history, French and Spanish.
Roedean School pupils Alma Samocha and Isla Binks achieved grade 9 in 12 subjects while fellow students Jemima Venturi and Rosie Pillott both earned grade 9s in 11 subjects.
Students, parents, staff and governors at Steyning Grammar School were also celebrating after receiving their results.
Co-headteacher Noel Kennedy said: "Steyning Grammar School has always been, and will continue to be, a school that puts our children first.
"As a community, we have assisted with providing resources including food, laptops, iPads and much more to support our students to achieve even in the most difficult and unusual circumstances.”
Seaford Head School headteacher Bob Ellis said students deserve “great credit for their fortitude in dealing with entirely new assessment arrangements, as do our amazing staff for implementing this system at great speed”.
Maths remains the second most popular subject nationwide, with 811,135 entries, up 0.3 per cent on 2020, while girls have pulled further ahead of boys amid a rise in top grades nationwide.
The gap between boys and girls achieving one of the top three grades has risen from eight percentage points in 2020 to nine percentage points this year. Last year, more than one in four (26.2 per cent) of UK GCSE entries were awarded one of the three top grades, compared to a fifth (20.8 per cent) in 2019 – the last year that exams were sat before the pandemic.
More than three in four (76.3 per cent) entries in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were awarded at least a 4 – broadly the equivalent of a C – last year, compared with 67.3 per cent in 2019.
Brighton and Hove lead councillor for schools Sarah Nield said the resilience and positivity shown by students has been inspiring.
“I want today to be a time for our young people to be able to celebrate their achievements and move on positively to the next phase of their lives,” she said.
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