Sussex GCSE round-up

Wild child Terri missed more classes than she attended.

But she finally decided to change her ways - and was rewarded yesterday with eight impressive GCSE passes.

Students across Sussex excelled themselves when results were published, with the overall A* to C pass rate rising to a record high of 57.9 per cent.

Some pupils achieved up to 15 GCSE passes each, many at the top A* and A grades.

Headteachers were also keen to praise less obvious success stories like 16-year-old Terri, who may not have any As but were just as ecstatic.

Terri, of Brede Close, Whitehawk, Brighton, said: "I always used to be skipping lessons and I gave my teachers a lot of abuse.

"I'm not sure why but about half-a-year ago I decided to knuckle down a bit more."

"I'm happy enough with my results but I could have done better if I'd started working earlier."

Dr Jill Clough, Terri's headteacher at East Brighton College of Media Arts (Comart), said: "Terri used to be a real tearaway. But we were determined to make sure she did go to college.

"A lot of students here have realised they can succeed."

Brighton College student Elizabeth Kelly, of Treadcroft Road, Hove, jumped up and down with delight after discovering she had eleven A*s.

She said: "I didn't sleep a wink the night before, but now I feel like a million dollars."

Sixty per cent of passes were at grades A* or A at the college in Eastern Road, Brighton, with 95 per cent at A* to C.

Headtacher Anthony Seldon said: "For a school, which is largely non-selective like us, this is fantastic news."

At Varndean School the number of students achieving at least five A*s to Cs rose to 60 per cent - six per cent up on last year. The overall A* to C rate was 57.7 per cent.

Nationally, girls again performed better than boys but many Brighton and Hove headteachers said exam results did not differ much between the sexes.

Thousands of teenagers in Eastbourne, Hastings, Bexhill, Uckfield and Seaford arrived at schools to be handed results face to face and many more waited anxiously by the letter box at home.

The McGovern family of Punnetts Town, near Heathfield, had a special cause for celebration.

Alice McGovern gained 11 A*-grades at GCSE, following on from the success of her older sister Emma, who last week achieved four A grades at A-level.

To top it off, their father Chris was awarded an A grade in his Italian GCS. All studied at St Leonards-Mayfield School.

Alice and Emma's mother, Marion McGovern, deputy head at the school, said: "Alice is delighted."

At fee-paying Eastbourne College in Old Wish Road, Eastbourne, 100 per cent of students gained five or more A* to C passes for the first time in the school's distinguished history.

A total of 48 per cent of all results were A* to A, while 37 per cent of Year Ten pupils took some GCSEs early, all gaining A* or A.

At Uckfield Community College, 67.4 per cent of the 188 students who sat GCSE exams gained five or more A* to C passes, compared to 63.7 per cent last year.

A total 98 per cent gained five or more A* to G, while more than ten per cent gained five or more A* to A grades.

At Bexhill High School, slightly more than 50 per cent gained five or more A* to C, exceeding its target of 50 per cent.

Girls at Moira House School, Eastbourne, were celebrating with 100 per cent of the 31 candidates achieving five A* to C passes.

Ninety-five per cent of students gained A* to C for all their exams while more than half achieved all A* or A grades.

At Willingdon Community School, Broad Road, Eastbourne, 53 per cent of students achieved five or more A* to C passes with 20 per cent gaining ten A*s to C.

Hundreds of pupils across Mid Sussex opened their GCSE results and discovered they had some of the best results ever.

At Tanbridge House School in Horsham 63 per cent of students gained five or more A* to C grades with girls achieving one of the highest results to date of 74.4 per cent.

Oathall Community College students were left visibly shocked when they realised they had done much better than expected.

At Burgess Hill School for Girls 56 per cent of pupils gained either A or A*s at GCSE.

Eight girls gained 9 or more passes all at A* or A: Sophie Blackmur, Charlotte Buchanan, Shaymoly Mukherjee, Annalie Clark, Alice Edwards, Sophia Hatley, Hannah Paley and Andrea Phillipson.

More than 30 pupils gained at least five As and A*s.

It was another excellent year for Farlington School, near Horsham, where 98 per cent of students gained A* to C grades.

The combined A* and A grades totalled 62 per cent and 35 per cent of the girls achieved A* in their Maths.

Pupils at Holy Trinity School in Crawley were also celebrating after 68 per cent gaining five or more passes at A* to C grades - four per cent more than last year.

Of the 186 pupils who sat GCSEs, 46 gained ten or more subjects at A* to C.

At St Pauls Catholic College in Haywards Heath students were preparing for a lively night out to celebrate passing their exams.

Of the 135 pupils who sat exams 71 per cent gained five or more A* to Cs, an increase of one per cent on last year. Seventy-two per cent of grades were A* to C.

At Imberhorne School in East Grinstead almost 100 per cent of students got passes at grades A* to G with 72 per cent of the year group obtaining five or more passes at A* to C.

Staff at Oakmeeds Community College in Burgess Hill looked delighted as students jumped around after collecting their results.

The school achieved a pass rate 61.3 per cent for grades A* to C, which was five per cent up on the previous year.

Staff at Sackville Community College in East Grinstead were also pleased that as well as achieving an overall pass rate of 98 per cent with 65 per cent gaining grade C or above, a number of pupils had also managed to find apprenticeships in carpentry, hairdressing, sign making and travel.

At Worthing High School, students celebrated 55 per cent of results at grades A* to C. A quarter of pupils gained nine or more GCSEs at grades A* to C. Fourteen per cent of grades were A* and A.

Students did particularly well in music with 96 per cent of grades at A* to C. In drama, 88 per cent of grades were A* to C.

Students at Lancing College celebrated the school's best ever set of GCSE results. The number of A* grades achieved by students was up nine per cent on last year, with 27.1 per cent of GCSE grades A*s, compared with 18.6 per cent last year.

Andrew Mason, 16, of Portslade, got the school's best results by getting 11 A*s. He also took an AO and AS, gaining A grades in both.

Our Lady of Sion School, Worthing, celebrated an A* to C pass rate of 88.8 per cent, a five per cent rise on last year. About 88 per cent of pupils gained five or more passes at A to C grade.

Meanwhile, Chatsmore Catholic High School in Worthing was also celebrating its best ever set of results. More than 60 per cent of grades were A* to C.

Staff and students at St Andrew's High School for Boys in Worthing were celebrating their best results with more A* grades than ever before.

At Littlehampton Community School, boys bucked the national trend by out-performing the girls.

Results revealed 65 per cent of the top 20 GCSE students at the school were boys, reversing the national picture.