Ealing Schools Deal Comfortably With 'Tougher' GCSEs


Excellent results across the board under new marking system

Seoan Webb and Siobhan Woodley with the Elthorne Park Headteacher
Seoan Webb and Siobhan Woodley with the Elthorne Park Headteacher

Ealing schools seem to have adapted well to the new more demanding marking system for GCSEs with a good set of results across the borad

Elthorne Elthorne Park High School saw their best ever results with 75% of students achieving 5 A*-C including English and Maths and 77% of students gained the government recognised ‘good pass’ in English and Maths under the new, much more challenging 9-1 graded GCSEs. The school say that this is likely to position them as one of the top 100 non-selective schools nationally.

The number of students achieving 5 A*-C overall was 80%. 30% of grades were at A* or A with 34 top grade 9s in English and Maths. Throughout the year group a total of 12 students gained 10 straight A*/A grades and the cohort as a whole obtained 485 grades at A*- A (30%).

The top achievers are Seoan Webb and Siobhan Woodley, who each attained 10 A* grades in all of their subjects.

Headteacher Eliot Wong said, “I am prouder than ever to be the Headteacher of Elthorne Park High School. These incredible results are a testament to both our amazing students and dedicated, expert staff. We continue to improve year on year and I look forward to welcoming all of our outstanding students back to our sixth form. All of our students should be absolutely thrilled with their outcomes”.

This year has seen a significant improvement in GCSE results at St Benedict’s with an increase in the number of A /A* grades to 57.6% - up 6.4% from last year. Performance in the new style GCSEs in English Language, English Literature and Mathematics has also been strong: in the new 9-1 grading system, pupils achieved 9-7 grades in 43.3% of papers. This equates approximately to A*/A grades in the old system and represents an 8.1% improvement on last year’s results in these subjects.


Perfect marks for Cerys Edwards of St. Benedict's

A number of pupils achieved particularly impressive results: Cerys Edwards and Max Lubowiecki achieved straight A* grades with 9 in English and Maths, and 14 achieved straight A*/A grades, including 9-7 in Maths and English.

The Headmaster Andrew Johnson, said: “I am delighted to be able to congratulate our pupils warmly on these very strong results, and thank their teachers for all their hard work in support of our GCSE candidates.”

Notting Hill & Ealing High School achieved another record year of GCSE results. 66% of entries were graded at A*, equalling their all-time high, with 89% graded A*/A and 100% A*-C. 12 girls gained A*s in all their subjects and 47 girls (over half the year) gained 7 or more A*s.

Head, Matthew Shoults said, “These are excellent results, reflecting the energy and effort which the girls have put into their studies, and the staff have put into supporting them. Every single girl has worked with great determination to achieve her best and should rightly be proud of herself. Our heartfelt congratulations go to them all.”


Notting Hill and Ealing girls celebrate great results

The West London Free School’s second set of GCSE results are also very strong. In particular, pupil achievement in English, Mathematics, Science, Latin, Music and Religious Education are exceptional. 36% of all the GCSEs were graded A*/A (including 7-9 in English and Mathematics, which is equivalent to A*/A in the old system). 80% of pupils achieved a 4 or above in English and Mathematics (equivalent to a C or above). 10 pupils achieved the very highest grade. 100% of pupils who took Religious Education achieved A*-C, with 74% of these getting A*/A.

Hywel Jones, the Headteacher of the West London Free School, said: “I am very proud of our pupils. This year group has worked very hard and successfully met the challenge of the more rigorous GCSEs in Mathematics and English. The results are a testament to those efforts, our exceptional teaching staff and the support from parents and carers. They are particularly impressive, given that all our pupils have taken the most rigorous, academic GCSEs, with none doing BTECs or any other equivalents.”

At Latymer Upper School over half of the year group achieving at least 8 A* grades and over 70% of grades were at A* with 90% of grades at A*/A

Fencing champion and member of Team GB Josh Willcox who, having spent a busy year competing on the prestigious European Cadet Fencing Circuit now adds 10A*s to his sporting achievements. Maddie Lloyd, 10A*s, and Georgina Seal, 9A*s and 1A, have reason to celebrate in a year that has seen them both chosen for the GB rowing squad. Twins Felix and Cecile Ramin celebrate their joint success, gaining 20A*s between them – 10A*s and 1A each.


Twins at Latymer enjoy joint success

Latymer Upper Head, David Goodhew commented, "Congratulations to all our GCSE pupils who have had such fantastic results today - their hard work has really paid off. They bear the Latymer hallmark of being well-rounded individuals who, as well as achieving academically, pursue many of the co-curricular options on offer at Latymer. Having joined the School on the same day in 2012 as this talented Y11 cohort, I very much look forward to following their progress in the sixth form.”

At St Augustine’s Priory, Ealing Catholic independent day school for girls, 82% of grades were A* - B or equivalent (9 – 6). There was a clean sweep of A*s in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, 100% passes in English Literature and Mathematics and 83% of Modern Language grades at A* or A. Over half of all pupils obtained at least 5 A* or A grades or equivalent (new grades 9/8/7) between them. 54% of the grades achieved in Mathematics, English and English Literature combined were 9, 8 or 7 (A* - A). 95% of all pupils achieved at least 1 grade A*/A or equivalent. This follows last week’s news that 100% of the Year 11 Additional Mathematics students achieved the top grade, A.

Smiles all round at St Augustine's Priory
Smiles all round at St Augustine's Priory

Interim Headteacher, Mrs Marie-Helene Collins, commented, ‘Across the full range of our curriculum, our girls have performed brilliantly and we congratulate them on their outstanding results today. Among many highlights, our excellent separate science performance and fantastic results in the new English and Mathematics courses are a particular source of confidence. Another strong year of results yet again confirms our expertise in teaching girls in our wonderful setting, supported by our dedicated staff and with a Catholic ethos’.

Pupils at La Petite École d’Ealing, a French language school based at St Augustine’s Priory achieved a clean sweep of A*s and As in their French GCSEs. St Augustine’s Priory works with La Petite École as part of a bilingual hub promoting and supporting the teaching of French in Ealing.

Acton High School is celebrating the very strong individual achievements of Year 11 students who have performed well in what is a turbulent period of change for GCSE content and grading. Rahim Feddag and Waris Wasay got the highest grade 9 in English Literature and English Language GCSEs respectively. Rahim also achieved 3A* and 8 A or A grade equivalent (new grades 7 and 8). Amir Saeidi and Piotr Prokocki are also celebrating a strong set of GCSE grades achieving A* and A in 10 subjects. Amongst the girls Leanne Vidal attained grade 8 in both English Language and Literature, grade 7 in maths and A and B grades in her other subjects.

58% of the year group achieved what the government is calling a “good” grade in English and 60% of students achieved this grade in maths with exactly 50% of students securing passes in both. In addition in spite of the increased challenges of the new content in English and maths 20 students attained the top grades (grades 7-9) in English and 27 students attained these grades in maths

The majority of the year group are continuing their studies at AHS’s sixth form which last week saw its A Level students attain outstanding grades and which has placed the sixth form in the top 4% of nationally. Enrolment today was extremely busy with students accepting places to study a range of A Levels in sciences, Maths, Computing, English Literature, Politics, Art and MFL.

Head Teacher, Ken Mackenzie said: “We are very proud of the achievements of all our year 11 students and are delighted so many of them are continuing their studies in our sixth-form. For this group of students to have done so well in the core subjects of English and mathematics in the year when new, much more rigorous exams were introduced is testament to their hard work as well as the dedication and professionalism of their teachers. Acton High School is changing and these students will lead the change as they continue with their success in our sixth-form”.

88% of Twyford CofE High School students gained a 4 and above in the new English and Maths exam which the school says places them in the top 5%.

14 students gaining a grade 9 in both English and Maths with 35 students (19%) gaining at least one grade 9.

Grades in other subjects were also strong – exceptionally so in Science where the result of 91% A*-C in Additional Science topped the school’s previous personal best - which they say had placed it within the top 2% of schools nationally. 14% of the year group achieved the equivalent of 9A/A* or above and 44% 3A/A* and above.

Top scoring girl within the school was Joanna Reid who achieved a triple 9 as well as 7A*s with Sipan Petrosyan the highest scoring boy with 9/8/8 & 7A*s

Associate Headteacher, Karen Barrie said ‘Twyford is hugely proud that 8% of the exam cohort achieved this new top of the top grade which compares very favourably with the national figures of 2%/3% in English and Maths’.

Executive Headteacher, Dame Alice Hudson commented ‘I am delighted with the outcomes of all students who have worked so very hard to meet the demands of these new courses. I am also pleased that the school has used this opportunity to help students recognise their gifts and target pathways post-16 that will give them the best possible future aspirations’.


August 29, 2017