Hackney’s schools toast stellar GCSE results

After a sleepless night pupils today faced judgement day across the borough they queued nervously to collect their GCSE exam results.

For the second year in a row there has been a drop in the proportion of top grades nationally and even a marginal drop in the overall pass rate – prompting many teachers to warn students about “turbulence” in their grades.

But in Hackney schools have continued to increase pass rates and smash their own records.

At Clapton Girls Academy there were smiles and hugs as students achieved extremely high results.

The school performed strongly overall and bucked the national trend with 70 per cent of pupils achieving five or more A*-C results with English and Maths.

Romanna Delair got extremely high marks, opening her envelope to find eight A*s and four As.

“I didn’t think I was going to get that many A *s”, she told the Hackney Citizen.

Delair will be staying on to do her A-levels at Clapton Girls, as will many of her peers.

“I’m staying here,” she said. “I know everyone and I like all the teachers I will have next year. I already have a support system so there is no point in leaving.

“There are some who want a new experience, but I want to stay.”

Beth Foster-Ogg didn’t get much sleep last night as she was so nervous, but after opening her results of eight A*s, two As and a B she finally can relax. She will also being staying on at Clapton Girls, and hopes to one day study PPE at university.

With siblings studying engineering and medicine, the pressure was on for 16-year-old Sobelema Salome Atemie.

She rose to the challenge, however, with high results of four A*s 6 As and 2 Bs.

She hopes to study the sciences and go on to be a cardiologist in the future.

Atemie said science felt extremely tough this year, and that she was not surprised to hear the news this morning about the drop in grades.

“They are making the exams much harder as competition grows, but we all worked so hard, we all worked together,” she added.

As part of the study group, Morgan Bryan had also worked hard and was rewarded with top marks of seven A*s and four As .

“I’m glad it has all paid off”, she said.

The gates of Stoke Newington School were thronged with students eager to find out how they had done.

Overall the school performed highly, with 68 per cent of students hitting 5 A*-C grades including English and maths – a seven per cent increase on last year.

Darcy Dixon wants to be a photographer, so she was particularly thrilled with her A* in Art and Photography GCSE, as well as six Bs and three Cs.

“I walked her with my friends, so I wasn’t nervous,” she said. “It felt like we were walking to school. When I had the envelope I couldn’t bring myself to open it. When I did, the first thing I saw was art and photography, and I’d got an A*. I was so happy.”

Khaled Shah received three As and four Bs, and wants to go on to become a dentist after his A levels.

“I’ve been working hard so I knew I’d get good grades,” he said.

Headteacher Annie Gammon said: “We are very proud of our year 11 students – every one of them.”

The Urswick School celebrated record-breaking results for the fifth consecutive year with 57 per cent achieving 5 A*-C grades with English and Maths.

Joe Kimber achieved nine A* or A grades including an A* in science, scoring one hundred per cent in every science exam he sat, making him one of the top science students in the country.