Smiles all around for Harrogate and Yorkshire Dales GCSE students
28.9% of UK GCSE entries were awarded one of the three top grades compared to 26.2% last year
Last updated 12th Aug 2021
There were lots of smiles across Harrogate and the Yorkshire Dales this morning (Thursday 12 August) as students were given their GCSE results.
More pupils than ever have got top-grade GCSEs after exams were cancelled for the second year in a row due to Covid-19.
This year results have been determined by teachers and pupils have only been tested on what they have been taught during the pandemic.
Lottie Abbott is a Year 11 student at Outwood Academy Ripon and was given her grades today.
She said: "I'm very very happy and I'm very surprised at what I got. At first there was so much uncertainty with what I was getting and now that I've got my results in my hands I'm just so happy and proud of myself for getting through this year."
Harvey Hooley is also a student at Outwood Academy Ripon. He's excited to go start his scholarship at Barnard Castle after getting his results.
He said: "I'm very happy. My target was to get all 6s and above and I got that so I'm extremely happy.
"On the last day I was thinking 'Oh we're going to get an email with our results because of Covid' and so it's kind of nice to walk back up the driveway and see familiar faces again and teachers as well."
Assistant Headteacher, Maxine Carpenter-Harvey, said: "It's been a fabulous morning. I'm so very proud of the year 11s and I'm just astounded at how they've overcome every obstacle and they've carried on their enthusiasm throughout the year.
"I'm looking forward to seeing them have a very bright future. We've really invested in every student and it's one of those days where there is joy but also that tinge of sadness that they'll be leaving us."
Girls at Harrogate Ladies' College have also been sharing the success.
Sophie McHugh was among the school’s top performing pupils with ten grade 9s and one grade 8.
She said: “I’m absolutely delighted with my results, I can’t quite believe it. It has been really challenging being in and out of school all the time and then not knowing whether we were going to be sitting exams or not, but I can’t wait to get back into school again in September and start to my A levels and hopefully have the full Sixth Form experience.”
Hannah Grant, who also achieved a clean sweep of eight grade 9s and one grade 8, said: “We had so much support with online learning and tutorials, and the teachers were really focused on our wellbeing as well. They were always there to answer any questions and even when we weren’t in school it still felt like we were part of a community.”
On Tuesday there was a record high for A-level grades as those students also faced teacher assessment instead of exams.
Overall, 28.9% of UK GCSE entries were awarded one of the three top grades this year, compared to 26.2% last years, figures for England, Wales and Northern Ireland show.
In 2019, when exams were last held, only a fifth (20.8%) of entries achieved at least a 7 – the equivalent of an A grade.
Our Westminster Correspondent Georgie Prodromou spoke to Labour's Shadow Minister for Further Education, who says the assessments should be more uniform:
The results show that girls have pulled further ahead than boys amid the rise in top GCSE grades this year.
The gap between boys and girls achieving one of the top three grades has risen from eight percentage points in 2020 to nine percentage points this year.
According to figures from Ofqual, the number of 16-year-old students in England who entered seven or more GCSEs and received a 9 – the highest grade under the numerical grading system – in all subjects has risen.
Some 3,606 students in England received straight 9s this summer, compared with 2,645 in 2020 and 837 in 2019.
More than three in four (77.1%) of UK entries were awarded at least a 4 – broadly the equivalent of a C – last year, which is up by 0.8 percentage points on last year when 76.3% achieved the grades.
In 2019, just over two in three (67.3%) entries achieved at least a grade 4.
The figures, published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), cover GCSE entries from students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Traditional A*-G grades have been scrapped and replaced with a 9-1 system amid reforms, with 9 the highest. A 4 is broadly equivalent to a C grade, and a 7 broadly equivalent to an A.