The summer of 2014 has been a significant and a unique occasion for Christ the King College in Newport as, for the first time ever, students collected GCSE, AS and A Level results.
Having celebrated outstanding success in the A Level results, including a significant increase in the AS results, the College is now celebrating its third set of GCSE results.
The College’s Principal, Pat Goodhead has stated:
“I am absolutely delighted with the overall results, extremely proud of the students and wish to pay particular tribute to the staff this year who, for the first time ever, prepared students so successfully for GCSE and A Levels.”
Speaking about the GCSE results, Pat Goodhead continued by explaining that, whilst the predicted outcomes for this year’s cohort were lower than previous years, provisional figures indicated an achievement of 78% A*-C with 76% of students achieving the higher grade pass of C and above in Mathematics, a clear 14% above the provisional national average. Achievement in the highest grades of A* and A also saw a significant increase and initial analysis of progress suggests outstanding progress in many subjects.
Despite some disappointments in the English A*-C figure which, because of significant discrepancies and anomalies the College is in the process of challenging, English progress remained strong in many areas. 99% of students achieved 5A*-G and a remarkable 98% achieved 5A*-G including English and Maths of which, provisionally, at least 58% were C and above.
There were significant increases in the majority of aspects of the College’s performance, including the numbers achieving A*/A grades and A*-B grades. For example, over a quarter of the cohort gained an A*/A grade and more than 10% gained at least 5 A*/A grades. Of these, eleven students, (Freya Baxman, Jasmin Brooks, Darcy Brownlow, Victoria Cave, Amelia Collins, Scarlett Ferguson, Charlie Goodstein-Oliver, Isabel Grandcourt, Dabeoc Stanley, Ishbel Tregear and Anna Webb) gained between them alone, a staggering 141 A*/A grades.
Students achieved in total, 139 A* grades and 351 A grades across a wide range of subjects with over 15 % of grades in both English and Maths at A*/A grades. There were a wide range of successes in other subjects with A*/A grades obtained by over a third of students in Biology, Chemistry and Physics; 60% in Textiles; 100% in Latin Language, 75% in Latin Literature; and over a third in both History and RE.
Across the College, it was also the successes of individual students that the Principal wished to celebrate. As an experienced Headteacher and Ofsted Inspector, she quite understands the need to focus on statistics and is delighted that the College’s trend of high performance has been repeated again this year. Speaking about individuals, she commented:
“Within every set of results are the personal accomplishments of students who never fail to amaze us with their achievements and attitudes, and what has really impressed me this year are the numbers of students, at both GCSE and A Level, who have achieved in the face of adversity. Jack Ellis, the older brother of Joe Ellis who so sadly passed away from cancer during the summer, achieved 6 As, a top distinction in his Sports Studies and gained a plethora of other pass grades despite the unbelievably difficult time the family was experiencing during the exam period. That is definitely an achievement to celebrate.”
The College is now set to build on its tradition with this first set of GCSE and A Level results behind it. Recruitment for the Sixth Form is strong, with the majority of Year 11 students remaining at the College and being joined by students from other schools. The broad curriculum on offer, the successful Ofsted report and the successes of this summer will no doubt be contributing to the College’s increasing popularity.
