Macclesfield students woke up this morning to find out if the months of hard work, revision and dedication had paid off.
Key Events
Goodbye and well done
Well that’s enough blogging about GCSEs for another year.
We’ve not had news from Macclesfield Academy or pictures from Fallibroome, so we’ll hope to get those by the time we print the paper.
Remember we’d love to hear about your successes and of course see some of your best ‘jumping for joy’ shots.
Please get in touch with your stories either by Tweeting @stuartgreer or @MaccExpress or emailing macclesfield@menmedia.co.uk
High flyers at King's
Pictured from left to right are some of the high flyers: Beth Whiteley, 16, from Bollington, who got one 9, eight A*s and two As and says her success was down to “the support from all the school community.’ Julia Knyba, 16, from Holmes Chapel, who got an 8, eight A*s and two As and wants to become a doctor. Royal Northern College musician John Daly, 16, from Leek, who got 11 A*s with a 9 in Maths and wants to study Medicine; Charlotte Wardle, 16, from Buxton, who got one 9, nine A*s and an A and wants to work in biomedical research; Lydia Shone, 16, from Chapel-en-le-Frith who got one 9 and 10 A*s and is also hoping to go into Medicine or Dentistry, and Megan Whiteley, 16, from Bollington, who got one 9, eight A*s, an A and a top A^ in Further Maths and wants to study either Anglo Saxon and Norse or Architecture.
King' School success for twins
Identical twins Beth and Megan Whiteley could only be separated by one single grade in their equally astonishing GCSE results.
The Bollington girls were among the high flyers at the King’s School, with Beth getting one 9, eight A*s and two A grades, while Megan got the top A hat grade in Further Maths along with nine A*s and an A grade.
Beth said: “We are not competitive, but those around us try to turn it into a competition.” However sister Megan disagreed, “I don’t know about that; we are pretty competitive and always trying to out do each other.”
Neither would say whether their brains came from their mum or dad, but Beth added wisely, “We know what they would say, but we’re not telling.”
They have similar interests too and when they are not revising enjoy reading, music and revealingly, added Megan “a good argument too.”
Principal of King’s Girls’ Division Helen Broadley said: “As far as we are concerned, both Megan and Beth are equally as talented, equally as wonderful and both simply a sheer joy to teach.”
King's students leaping for joy after GCSE success
King’s School is celebrating outstanding results.
The school recorded 46pc of all grades at A*/A, 75pc of grades at A* - B and a third of pupils got at least eight As or better.
An incredible four students achieved 10 A*s, while 17 students achieved at least 5 A*s or better.
This year’s GCSE results are the first to include 9-1 grades, for Mathematics. Nationally, less than 3% of results were at Grade 9 - the highest possible grade. At King’s, the results were around three times the national average.
Among the high flyers were Beth Whiteley and Julia Knyba, who each achieved 9A*s and 2 As; talented musician John Daly who achieved a stunning 11 A*s; Head Girl Charlotte Wardle, who achieved 10 A*s and an A; Lydia Shone, who achieved 11 straigh A*s; and Megan Whiteley who achieved 1- A*S and an A.
All smiles this morning were Lydia Shone, who got 11A*s; Ffyona Booker, who got 7 A*s and 4 As; Alex Mason, who got 3 A*s 6As and 2 Bs; Charlotte Wardle, who got 10 A*s and an A, and Katie Hayward, who got 7 A*s and 4 As.
Yasmin Stretton, James Rous and Hannah Bailey amassed an impressive 9 A*s, 19 As and 4 Bs between them.
Talented actress and Cheshire Poetry champion Ciara Allen achieved 5 A*s, 5 As and a B; Zara Shutt achieved 9As and a B; and Anisa Choudry achieved 2 A*s, 7 As and a B.
A spokesman for the school said: “Congratulations go to all our students receiving their GCSE results today. We wish you all the very best for the future and look forward to welcoming many of you back to our Sixth Form shortly.”
Success stories from Poynton High
Top performer was Daniel Oldham with 7A*s and two grade 9s and Benjamin Lewis with 7A*s and one Grade 9. Chloe Buchan achieved two Grade 9s, 4A*’s and three Grade As with Aleeha Ali gaining 5A*s and four Grade As.
Meanwhile 38 students achieved 8 or more top grades of A/A* or 7/8/9 including: Benjamin Lewis, Daniel Oldham, Matthew Ainley, Aleeha Ali, Chloe Buchan, Samantha Capper, Matthew Hughes, Kelsey Monteith, Sarah Peachey, Cameron Stewart, James Ainley, Katherine Hickson, Michael Hulme, Lauren Macpherson, Alicia Parks, Rebecca Pinkerton, Abigail Renwick, Ines Seales, Patrick Sharrocks, Sophie Sinclair, Eleanor White, Emily Ashcroft Brown, Holly Axon, Ellen Bradley, Charles Gregory, Nicola Kershaw, Jack Lynam, Thomas Mason, Hannah Monk, Heather Nuttall, Joseph Pavey, Ellis Richards, Isobel Saville, Kerian Shepley, Lucy Smith, Luis Sullivan, Charlotte Timson and Emily Topliss.
Poynton High School results are in
Poynton High School has achieved ‘outstanding’ results in their GCSE examinations with almost 80 percent of students achieving the national benchmark of five A*-Cs.
The school also saw third of all GCSEs graded at the A*/A or the new higher Level 7/8/9 pass mark.
David Waugh, headteacher, said “It is wonderful to see such amazing results and individual success stories. “These results are a real testament to the hard work of all of our students, their families and our great staff who have supported them every step of the way. “I really am so very pleased with their great achievements. “This year group have been subjected to the hardest GCSEs ever, with the higher grades of A*/A and 7/8/9 being harder to achieve. “This group of inspirational young people have “smashed” the national trends with a third of all GCSEs at the top grades, 90% achieving their English Standard Pass and 80% achieving their maths. “It is not possible to compare previous results to this year as the examinations are different and the expectations higher. “However, our students have increased their achievement at every benchmark set with a quarter of all GCSE mathematics being graded at Level 7/8/9 (the old A*/A grade) and a third of GCSE English.
“We are also very pleased with their success at the new harder Grade 5 level with over three quarters of students achieving Grade 5 or above in GCSE English for example.
“The government has set down the challenge of harder, more academic focussed GCSE qualifications and our students have risen, met and then exceeded that challenge across all of their subject areas.”
Other notable successes were an 80pc past rate A*-C in GCSE German, 99pc in Physics, Chemistry and Biology, 91pc in Music, 87pc in Drama and 80pc in Dance. There was also success in PE where the pass rate was 93pc, and 83pc in History.
Lunch break
While we’re waiting for results and info from Fallibroome, King’s, Poynton and Macclesfield Academy, I’m gong to get some lunch.
News from over the border
Alderley Edge School for Girls, which a few local girls attend, have reported ‘fantastic’ GCSE success and the best results since 2014.
10% of students have attained a Grade 9 in English.
The number of A* equivalent grades in English Literature tripled this year and doubled in English Language.
A* grades achieved in Mathematics have increased by 50% and 87% of all separate Science results were either an A or an A*.
In addition, 10% of pupils achieved a full set of A and A* grades and over 95% of all grades were A* to C.
Isabella Vickers from Prestbury (pictured above) achieved straight A* and two Grade 9s including full marks in her GCSE History paper.
Helen Jeys, headmistress said: “After such a fantastic week with all of our A level girls achieving the grades they needed for university, our girls have proved yet again that they can attain outstanding grades in a vast array of subjects. The fact that so many of our girls have scored at the very highest level is testament to our students’ commitment to achieve but also to the dedication of my staff. We encourage our girls to aspire to be the best they can be and to achieve their potential; the girls deserve to be delighted with their success. Many congratulations also to those of our Year 10 who have achieved some outstanding GCSE results in their Higher Project Qualification; we are sure that this success will continue to next year and beyond.”
Here’s a bit more from Beech Hall School.
A whopping 89% of students got 9 -4 (i.e A* to C) pass in English and Maths.
The value-added score of +18.
There were 100% As and Bs in Art and 100% A* to C passes in French, RE and History.
78% of pupils exceeded predicted results by at least 2 GCSE grades.
nice work everyone.
We’re still waiting for news from Fallibroome, King’s, Poynton and Macclesfield Academy.
Remember we’d love to hear about your successes and of course see some of your best ‘jumping for joy’ shots.
Please get in touch with your stories either by Tweeting @stuartgreer or @MaccExpress or emailing macclesfield@menmedia.co.uk
Beech Hall School celebrate
Beech Hall School is celebrating after a year of hard work has culminated in an exciting results day.
It saw 78% of pupils exceed their predicted results by at least 2 GCSE grades, with 89% achieving A*-C in English and Maths.
James Allen, headteacher, said: “We are so proud that our pupil’s efforts have been rewarded with such satisfying individual results. We wish them the best of luck for the future.”
Edward Gorton, (16), from Macclesfield, achieved 8 GCSEs including an A and B in Science and Additional Science.
The dedication from Edward has been proven with an incredible value-added score of +11, achieving 11 GCSE grades higher than what was predicted for him based on baseline assessment data.
Macclesfield resident Katie Davies, (16), will take her talents to Tytherington Sixth Form after achieving 9 GCSEs, including an outstanding 5 As and A*s. Katie’s significant effort and achievement has seen her accomplish a value-added score of +9.
Edward, a senior prefect and member of the inaugural Beech Hall Fives Club will also continue to Fallibroome Sixth Form.
Edward said: “I’m proud of my GCSEs; it’s great to see that the hard work has paid off. Beech Hall has been very supportive with helping me to exceed expectations.”
Katie, who has been working throughout the summer as a Lifeguard for the Beech Hall summer play scheme, added: “It’s been brilliant at Beech Hall. The staff are so supportive and it is very one to one. They listen to you and what you need, which has helped me greatly to achieve these fantastic results.”
There were also some individual success stories at Tytherington.
Iqra Bisiketi joined the school from Malawi only able to speak the Chichewan dialect.
Through hard work he achieved 8 GCSEs, performing well above expectations.
Iqra is also a keen Vlogger whose videos have been viewed more than 30,000 times.
As well as her standard set of GCSEs Susan Laffan achieved an A in AS-Level Dutch.
Caitlyn Lloyd balanced GCSE study with her role in the Police Cadets.
Within school she is a school Transition Ambassador and a Sports Leader.
She also recently completed her Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Award and has spent four weeks of her summer holidays completing the National Citizens Service (NCS) Course.
Alongside a fantastic set of results, Xabier Wilson successfully completed Grade 7 in the Saxophone, as well as a grade 5 in piano.
As well as playing in the school orchestra Xabier also performs with The Macclesfield Music Centre.
'Delight' at All Hallows
All Hallows has praised the hard work and dedication of students and staff in the face of the new national standards at GCSE.
David Aspinall, Head of Year, said: “It’s been an anxious wait for students, teachers and parents this year, following the reforms to GCSE, but we are absolutely delighted that our students have done so well.”
The highest performing female student was Chen Ji with 12 subjects in total, 7 A* GCSEs, three grade 9 GCSEs – and an AS (Grade A) in Mandarin and a Higher Project Qualification (HPQ).
Chen was closely followed by Natasha Harper who achieved 7A* 2A and 1 Grade 9.
The highest performing male student was Stephen Hughes with 7A*s, 2As and one grade 9.
The total number of the new top ‘grade 9’, available only in English and mathematics, was 28 in the first year of the new GCSE system.
Pupils B Brereton, A Broadhurst, B Cheung, O Crabtree, B Hadfield, N Harper, S Hughes, C Ji, T Kalnins, L Kennedy, C Langer, J Mock, S Musgrave, E Pointer, M Rigby, A Rosete, C Siedlecka, J Townley, J Westwood achieved the new grade 9.
Chen Ji said: “I love All Hallows and I’m really delighted with my results and want to thank all the staff who have supported me in so many different ways to help me achieve my goals.’
Stephen said: “Thank you to the College for supporting me to achieve these results. It’s been a great couple of weeks with my brother Aidan also getting 4A* at A level! I’m really looking forward to studying in the Sixth Form.”
This year also saw four students taking the new Higher Project Qualification as part of a programme for higher ability students: Chen Ji, Christoph Langer, Jordan Simpson, James Westwood. All of these students achieved A*.
Tony Billings, Executive Principal, said: “We have met the challenge of change at both A Level and GCSE with excellent results. I’m delighted for everyone and especially our students and teachers who have worked so hard. I’m also delighted that so many students can progress to their next stage of learning.”
We’ve had more on the success from Tytherington School.
The following students achieved five or more A/A* or grade 9-7: Elizabeth Ashby, Chloe Barber, Cameron Belfield, Ellie Birchill, Charlie Blood, Elise Bowmaker, Gavin Bunyan, Elizabeth Caunt, Eireann Clapham, Natalya Corn, Jasmine Cross, Maya Dagdelen, Joe Helliwell, Harry James, Emilie Juif, Susan Laffan, Alicia Ledbury, Molly Makepeace, Summer Makepeace, Harry Mattocks, Eleanor Millar, Jasmine Moss, Amy Mullins, Milly-Jay Phillips-Malley, Megan Proffitt, Alexander Reed, George Richardson, Sebastian Roberts, Oliver Sadler, Amber Simpson, Scott Steedman, James Storey, Cameron Tebay, Nicole Vickerstaff, James Walton, Rachel Warrington, Nathaniel Wattis, Adam Worthington and Sam Yardley.
Manny Botwe, headteacher said: “These results are unprecedented and our attainment is amongst the very best in the North West. The progress of students remains very strong and we expect even better results next year. We believe that these results vindicate our policy of not forcing students to take the Ebacc pathway at GCSE. We believe that students should pursue an appropriate pathway of study at GCSE which they are passionate about and enables them to fulfil their potential.
“I am so proud of the achievements of all our students. These results are down to the hard work of students and staff as well as fantastic support from parents. We continued our policy of no study leave which ensured that students were given greater support than ever before. There are no secrets to our success and we don’t believe in gimmicks. It is down to hard work, first class pastoral care and sheer enthusiasm for learning. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all our youngsters across Macclesfield on their successes and thank them for making this the best job in the world.”
'Exceptional' results at All Hallows
All Hallows students have achieved ‘exceptional’ results, according to the school.
More than two thirds of the students achieved five or more GCSE ‘standard’ passes (A*-G / 9-1) including English and Mathematics.
91% of students achieved a standard pass or above in English and 75% achieved the same in Mathematics.
Celebrations at Tytherington School
Tytherington School is celebrating record GCSE results.
A first look at results reveals that 83 percent (pc) of Year 11 students achieved a standard pass - grade four and above - in English and Maths.
The school also saw 79pc of students achieved five GCSEs including English and Maths at the standard level (C+/4+).
Almost 90pc of students achieved 4+ in English and 86pc in Maths.
A third of all grades were either A/A* or 7-9 in English. The progress and attainment of students at GCSE is yet again very strong.
Well done everyone!
National picture - GCSE pass rate dips
GCSEs passes have dropped slightly in England, news figures show.
Overall in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, passes (grades C/4 and above) dropped 0.6 percentage points to 66.3pc.
In England, the English literature pass-rate fell 2.5 percentage points to 72pc, but in maths it rose from 61.5pc to 68.9pc.
Both English and Maths are the new, tougher exams graded from 9-1.
Some 3.2pc of papers were awarded grade 9 in English literature, 2.2pc in English language and 3.5pc in maths.
Good morning and good luck!
We’ll be bringing you all the latest from schools and colleges across the region as pupils collect their results this morning.
You’ll also be able to find advice on what to do if your exams didn’t go to plan, or you’re unsure about the next step.
We’d love to hear about your successes and of course see some of your best ‘jumping for joy’ shots.
Please get in touch with your stories either by Tweeting @stuartgreer or @MaccExpress or emailing macclesfield@menmedia.co.uk
Good luck everyone!
New GCSE grades explained
This year some GCSEs will be graded numerically rather than in the usual A*-C format.
The current letters marking system is being ditched in favour of numbered grades as part of Government reforms.
Maths and English results will be graded with a new scale from 9 to 1, with 9 being the highest grade.
For now, all other subjects will still be graded from A* to G.
The new GCSEs are designed to be harder with new grading system is a way of signalling the exams have been reformed.
The government says the new 9 to 1 grades are be a better way to differentiate between students of different abilities.
Hundreds of school pupils collect their GCSE results today.
It’s a nerve-wracking day for many youngsters, and exams don’t always go to plan.
The majority of students will pick their results up in person from school but some may receive them in the post.
Here’s everything you need to know about the big day.
Schools are allowed to release their GCSE results from 6am on Thursday.
Students at schools which use CCEA and Edexcel and have chosen to allow online access may be able to see some of their results at the crack of dawn.
But not all exam boards permit results to be released online and not all eligible schools sign up - so most students face a wait until they arrive in person.
It is up to individual schools how early they choose to let students come in to get the news they have been waiting for.
The majority of schools in Macclesfield open their doors to pupils from around 9am.
If you’re unsure what time you need to go in, visit your school’s websites or check with friends to see what time you can go in.
We’ll be following the news coming out of schools across Macclesfield and Poynton, and reaction across the country, throughout the morning...
