A Nunhead school is ‘proud’ of Year 11 students for their GCSE results, including a student who managed to get top grades despite missing an exam due to ill health.
St Thomas the Apostle School and Sixth Form College (STAC) have revealed that 72 per cent of their Year 11 results were graded 9 to 7 – the top grades.
One student, Sonny Opoku-Sharp, was particularly happy to open his to find top marks even though ill health interrupted his studies.
“During exams, it was hard to focus and study. I even missed one of the papers because of it.”
This could well have hindered his chances, but fortunately, his stellar results for the other papers meant he got 6 9’s, 3 8’s and 3 7’s.
Sonny said: “It’s a nice feeling. My family are really proud.”
Most of his friends will join him at STAC Sixth Form. Asked how he feels about starting, he told us, “I’m a bit nervous but mostly excited to do the subjects I enjoy, like maths and science.”
He will be studying A-levels in Maths and Further Maths, Computer Science and Physics.
He’s currently still deciding between studying physics and computer science further, a choice that could determine what he does next. “If I do computer science I would like to go into data analytics or software development,” he said.
Now fully recovered he said he hasn’t worked out how they’re celebrating but they know Nando’s are giving out free meals so that will likely feature in the day’s plans.
Other figures show that 90 per cent of students passed English and Maths and most students enrolled to STAC Sixth Form.
These results speak for themselves and represent a huge amount of hard work on the part of the students and their teachers and the unwavering support from their parents.
Headteacher Eamon Connolly said ‘We are proud to have bucked the national and local picture with these impressive GCSE results.
“The year group have surpassed our outstanding results from 2022 proving our continued upward trajectory.
“I am exceptionally proud of their results, the hard work of their teachers and the support of their parents and carers.”
GCSE grades explained
The number scale is not directly equivalent to the old letter scale, which changed in 2014, but this is how they roughly match up:
- The three number grades – 9, 8 and 7 – correspond to the two previous top grades of A* and A
- The bottom of grade 7 is aligned with the bottom of grade A
- The bottom of grade 4 is aligned with the bottom of grade C
- The bottom of grade 1 is aligned with the bottom of grade G
Exams watchdog Ofqual has said grade 9s “identify exceptional performance” and as such, fewer will have been awarded nationally than A*s (pre-2014).