Year 11 students across Ashford are finding out how well they did in their GCSEs.

Today's results day is infinitely less chaotic than last week's A Levels, but equally important in deciding what students' next steps will be in education.

As of 2017, the lettered marking system has been phased out and replaced with a numbered one - with 1 being a G and 7,8 and 9 being A, lower A* and high A*.

Many students were leaving happy at their results, which were arrived at through teacher assessments rather than exams due to the coronavirus.

One such student was Archie Rushin of Norton Knatchbull School, who picked up five 9s and five 8s.

He said: "I'm really chuffed, I can't quite believe it.

"The school's been great, I've really enjoyed it even though I'm leaving for Highworth.

"It's nothing to do with Knatchbull - I've had a really good time here - I just feel like I'd quite like a change."

When asked if he'd been nervous ahead of today, the 16-year-old said: "It's been weird since Covid, but I was feeling fine about it until a few days before the A Level results when it all went wrong.

"It made me really nervous and worried even though I knew they'd got rid of the Ofqual results.

"I can't believe Gavin Williamson's still got a job - if that had been a doctor or paramedic they would have been sacked."

Fellow Knatchbull student Arnav Sharma got seven 9s, two 8s and a 7, setting him up well for his possible future career in medicine.

He said: "It's been a bit awkward this year to be honest, a lot's happened and it's been quite chaotic but I'm glad we've made it through.

"My time at Knatchbull has been memorable. Without Knatchbull I wouldn't be where I am today, the atmosphere here is very encouraging and it's a wonderful school that has helped me get to where I am today.

"Without them I wouldn't be able to have the grades I have in my hand."

Norton Knatchbull's head teacher Ben Greene said: "Year 11 students at Norton Knatchbull have today received their GCSE Results and we are celebrating the fact that these outcomes enable them to look forward to an exciting and diverse range of courses and training opportunities that they will now be able to pursue.

"Much has been said and written in the last few weeks about the processes by which these grades have been arrived at. We were pleased at Norton Knatchbull to see this resolved on Monday.

"We are tremendously proud of and celebrate their achievements..."

"In the context of the events of the last six months this is in the best interests for this cohort of students who have faced so much uncertainty about the impact of the pandemic on their education.

"In particular we congratulate Henry Hiscocks, Robert Morton, Lucas Hanley, Bailey Stevenson, Daniel Bradley, Finn Kearns, Arnav Sharma, Max Behrens, Archie Rushin, Daniel Hope, Ethan Cooper, Dinum Hewavidana, Ethan Pierce, Thomas Staddon, Owen Hardwick and Luke Else – who between them share over 100 individual results at Grade 9.

"Important as they are, grades on their own have never represented the totality of a student’s (or indeed a school’s) achievements and qualities. The Norton Knatchbull 2020 Year 11 are a very special cohort who were fully involved in the school community – not just in their efforts in their academic studies, but in their engagement in extra-curricular activities and their support for community and charitable endeavours.

"These qualities and experiences, combined with today’s GCSE results provide them with the most solid of foundations to go forward on.

"We are tremendously proud of and celebrate their achievements and wish them well as they progress to the next stage of their study and training."

The North School decided against having a formal results day, instead sending out the grades via email.

The school has been particularly affected by yesterday's announcement that all BTEC results have been pulled and will be re-graded in line with the process used to determine A Levels and GCSEs.

In total, more than 50% of The North School students took a BTEC qualification this year.

Head teacher Anna Lawrence said: "We are very proud of the professionalism of our teachers and the meticulous and thorough approach to the process of issuing Centre Assessed Grades across all subjects.

"We are confident that our students will receive the grades that accurately and fairly reflect their achievement, effort and ability.

"The eleventh-hour change to the BTEC results is beyond frustrating and a significant number of our students will have to wait for the BTEC re-grading.

"This morning all our Year 11 students are being supported by one-to-one conversations with senior teachers about the results and their next steps in education."

Homewood School is celebrating as this years grades continued a year-on-year run of better marks.

A number of students picked up the top grades of 7-9 in several subjects which the school has highlighted as a "very significant achievement" for the institution.

There were strong performances in English and Maths and there was a particularly high number of top grades in Chinese, science, dance and the visual arts (art, photography and graphics).

As with many schools, staggered arrival times and a one-way route to collect their results helped to maintain social distancing and keep everyone safe.

Alongside A Level leavers, every student received an iconic 'Homewood Lockdown Leavers of 2020' t-shirt.

The ice cream van also made a welcome appearance, providing everyone with free ice creams and lollies - not quite a replacement for their lost school farewell party but a welcome taste of summer to celebrate with.

Principal Jeremy Single said: “Following a very uncertain and difficult period of time since schools closed in March, and the very unsettling events of the past week as the Government has struggled to deal with the aftermath of its very controversial algorithm, I am extremely pleased that we were able to welcome our Year 11 students back to school today and to offer them our congratulations, as well as to help confirm their future pathways.

"For the vast majority, this will be taking up a well-deserved place in Homewood’s very successful Sixth Form Centre.

“Our approach to the teacher assessments was to be as rigorously fair as possible. I am extremely proud of all of their achievements and very grateful to our staff for the hard work they have put in over many years to achieve such success.

"I wish all of our Year 11 students the very best of luck for their future studies.”

Another institution to come out smiling is Highworth Grammar School, which has continued to excel in its GCSE performance.

Reba Mathew did incredibly well, getting nine 9s, two 8s and a 7.

The 16-year-old, who hopes to study medicine at university, said: "It was really a shock when they said we're not going to have exams and I felt like everything we'd worked for had gone down the drain.

"I'm really happy with what I got though, and I'm feeling a lot better about the whole situation. It all worked out and I guess the hard work paid off."

Another Highworth student, Sarah Makolli, also did brilliantly despite the unique circumstances.

She said: "I think my grades were what I was expecting so it couldn't have gone better.

"I was definitely nervous because of everything that happened last week and of course because of the pandemic stopping our tests.

"It was challenging at first but then you start getting used to going to lessons and submitting work online.

"Highworth's been really good, giving lots of support and advice over the course of the GCSEs and lockdown."

The school's head Paul Danielsen said: "I am very proud of our GCSE students who worked really hard to continue their studies at home and achieved fantastic results.

"The high standards are in line with the school's historic performance and are particularly impressive because of the challenges this year.

"Thank you to all of the staff and well done to all of our students."

Staff at the John Wallis C of E Academy were similarly overjoyed by the efforts of this year's cohort, which proved to be a record-breaking one.

Principal John McParland commented: “I am really very pleased with the well-deserved achievements of our students.

"This year group, of which we had high expectations, has been the strongest year group in the history of the academy and they have achieved the best ever results in the ten-year history of our comprehensive school.

"We believe the centre-assessed grades - which went through a rigorous process of monitoring involving teachers, subject leaders and the senior leadership team as well as being further moderated by the exam boards - are a true reflection of the efforts and abilities of our students."

Of particular note were Sophie Douglas with four 9s, five 8s and a 7, as well as Joshua Wagar (three 9s, four 8s, three 7s) and Janiece Adu-Nsiah (three 9s, five 8s and a 7).

Mr Mc Parland added: "I have been impressed by the way our students have adapted to the challenges of Covid 19 and in particular to how well they have dealt with the extraordinary way their results have been determined.

"It has been an emotional and frustrating time for them awaiting the outcome of these important results which they know will affect their future careers.

"In September, we look forward to welcoming many of our Year 11 students into Sixth Form where they will continue to thrive, succeed and move forward with confidence, resilience, optimism and hope for a bright future."

Towers School had a great year despite the obvious difficulties faced by its GCSE students.

A spokesman for the school said: "This has been an unprecedented year with so much uncertainty surrounding the education landscape since lockdown was implemented.

"We have been incredibly proud of our year 11 students and how they have risen to the challenges.

"Up until May half term, students continued to engage with GCSE level work, understanding that this would still be beneficial, even if it would not directly influence their grade, as learning is for life.

"Post-May half term, students continued to demonstrate their intrinsic motivation to keep learning by accessing content that the school delivered which was relevant to their next steps, irrespective of their post-16 destination.

"Throughout this time, we have realised the strength of our Towers community. We are more than a building and a logo, we are a community who have proven ourselves to be stronger together.

"We are very grateful to families, students and staff who have worked to ensure that our Year 11s are in the best possible position to realise their potential."

Top students included Daniel Searle (achieved seven Grade 9s, three 8s and one Grade 7), who said: "I am extremely happy with my results this year. I was aiming to achieve high grades this year but I was not expecting them to be this high.

"My next goal now is to work as hard and smart as possible for my A-Levels."

Daniel Ward also praised Towers after getting three Grade 9s, one Grade 8, four Grade 7s and one Grade 6.

He said: "It’s been absolutely amazing here. The teachers have been extremely supportive and there is a great balance between study and allowing the students to unwind thanks to the awesome extracurricular activities."

Ashford School's Year 11 students also worked incredibly hard despite the uncertainty leading up to the normal testing period.

Among this year's successes was Oli, who attained seven 9s, two 8s and one 7 and also achieved an A for his Freestanding Maths Qualification.

Meanwhile Beth got nine 9s and one 8 and started work on her Gold Crest Award at the beginning of the Summer, a fantastic step towards her goal of studying astrophysics at university.

In all, 52% of the school's grades were 9 to 7 and 90% of grades were awarded 9 to 5.

Director of Years 9-11, Mrs Carly Smythe commented on the results saying: “The final months of their school year saw them face unprecedented circumstances but they met this with their usual resilience and commitment to succeed.

"The pupils should be very proud of what they’ve achieved and I wish them all the very best for the next stage in their education.”

Headmaster of Ashford School, Mr Mike Hall had the following words: "It's been the most challenging of three months, but I'm proud of the sense of purpose that students have maintained and highly impressed with their engagement with the A level induction course we offered in June.”

Last but certainly not least is Benenden School, with the Year 11s celebrating a fantastic set of grades.

"...they have earned these results with their hard work and dedication.”

In all, 37% of grades at Benenden were at Level 9 – the highest available – and 82 per cent of all grades were Levels 9 to 7.

This is a slight increase on 2019 and are in line with the trend over recent years.

Headmistress Samantha Price said: “The GCSE results process has certainly been smoother than last week’s A Level results and we appreciate the Government’s decision to use the centre assessed grades being made ahead of the publication of results.

“In the circumstances, this has been a fair outcome for students and I want to reassure them that, despite the very unusual circumstances of the past few months, they have earned these results with their hard work and dedication.”

“After what has been months of uncertainty, the girls can now look forward to returning to School in September and concentrating on the formal start to their A Level studies.

“We are pleased that most of this year’s GCSE students have already benefited from some foundation lessons in their A Level subjects as part of Leap, a programme of academic sessions, practical courses and lectures that our brilliant academic team quickly put together to run in the summer term when the girls would normally have been busy revising for their GCSEs.”

The school's top performers were Sophie Moody-Stuart and Lavinia Webb, both of whom achieved 14 GCSEs all at the top grade – 13 subjects at Level 9 plus an Extended Project Qualification at A*.

Two other girls achieved 12 straight Level 9s, another girl gained a clean sweep of 11 Level 9s and an A* at EPQ, and five girls achieved at least ten Level 9s each.

The Wye School also enjoyed a good set of results, rounding off a very unique year for the students.

Principal Luke Magee said: "2020 has been a very different year for our Year 11 students and we are all proud of how well they coped with the uncertainty of the lock-down, cancelled exams and then the recent changes to how grades were awarded.

"I was very pleased to see so many Wye Year 11s achieve excellent results and being able to take up their hoped for places in our sixth form, and at other education providers and apprenticeships.

"Until this year joining Wye's sixth form was a work of trust but now we have had our first set of excellent results, with 93% of our first Year 13 students getting their first choice university places, so we look forward to our 2020 students joining our now fully established 6th Form.

"We wish all our students the very best of luck with their future."

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