Record GCSE results for Stafford schools

THE SUMMER-LONG wait is finally over for teenagers across Staffordshire receiving their GCSE results.

GCSEThe dreaded brown envelopes were opened yessterday across Stafford, Stone, Rugeley and Penkridge but for many the fear turned to joy as they got the grades they needed to go into further education or employment.

Those who were disappointed by their results will still have chances to make up the ground however, Staffordshire County Councillor Ian Parry said. "There are lots of courses and training that will help, and it is worth bearing in mind that many very successful people were not successes first time."

For many schools it was time for celebration, with some reporting their best ever results. Walton High School was one such place, where 86 per cent of Year 11 students achieved five or more "good" GCSES and 72 per cent gained five or more A*-C grades. Richard Crichton scooped nine A*s and three Distinctions while Tom Phipps gained eight A*s, three Distinctions and one A.

Stafford Grammar School also achieved a record - all 65 GCSE students gained five or more A*-Cs. But Headteacher Michael Darley said: "This rather meaningless benchmark is the Government's measure of GCSE success. Stafford Grammar School pupils could therefore have done no better."

He said he was concerned that standard GCSES were not challenging enough for the most able students. The school dropped standard GCSE science exams three years ago, in order to sit the more demanding International GCSE version.

See next week's Newsletter for more GCSE news and pictures from local schools.