by Angela Cole, Anna White and Chris Hunter

acole@thekmgroup.co.uk

There was cause for celebration in schools across Maidstone and west Kent when hundreds of teenagers received their GCSE results this morning.
At St Simon Stock Catholic School in Oakwood Park, Maidstone, 75% of students gained five or more A*-C, with a 98% pass rate.
And at neighbouring Oakwood Park Grammar School there was another record breaking year with 52% of grades A* or A and 64% of the year group achieving 5 or more A* or A grades.
At Maidstone Grammar School for Girls in Buckland Road, students notched up the school’s best ever GCSE results. Thirty three pupils achieved at least 10A* or A grades each, including twins Alice and Carolyn Rogers, who gained 12 identical A* grades. And 58% of all grades were A* or A.
At Valley Park Community School in Huntsman Lane, Maidstone 64 students gained five good passes with all A and A* grades while at neighbouring Invicta Grammar School, 65% of pupils got A* or A grades with 64% getting eight A* or As.
At Swadelands School in Ham Lane, Lenham, it was a record breaking year with 92% of students gaining five A* to C grades.
A third of Sutton Valence School students also achieved six or more A* and A grades in their exams, with 41% of all grades being A* or As, and recorded 92% A* to Cs.
At Cornwallis Academy in Hubbards Lane, Linton, 55% of students achieved five A* to C grades including English and Maths, with 90% gaining five A* to Cs.
At New Line Learning Academy in Boughton Lane, Maidstone, 84% gained five or more GCSEs at grade C or above, a new record for the school.
One group of New Line Learning pupils couldn’t wait until Year 11 to sit their GCSEs and instead opted to attempt the Maths paper two years early.
Year 9s Jamie-Dee King, Shona Sivavajah and Chelsea Chalkin, all 14, passed with a C grade. Chelsea Chalkin, of Westmorland Road, Shepway, said: “It’s good to get a C now as we can work hard over the next two years to get our grades higher.”
At Maidstone Grammar School in Barton Road, pupils attained the second best set of GCSE results in the school’s history, with 54% of all subject entries being graded at A* or A, and 99% of students gaining five A*-C grades including Maths and English. The number of students who gained five or more A* grades went up to 21% – 4% up on last year.
At St Augustine Academy in Oakwood Park, Maidstone, pupils achieved a 36% A to C grades in Maths and English.
Pupil James Love, 16, of Fairlawn Close, Teston, said: “I’m really pleased with my grades. I’m going to sixth form now to study drama, English and sociology.”
Classmate Beth Arscott, also 16, of London Road, Allington, said: “It’s been really hard work studying for the exams but I’m really happy with what I got. I’m hoping to go to Maidstone Grammar School’s sixth form next year.”

There was a party atmosphere at Holmesdale Technology College in Malling Road, Snodland, when management laid on a buffet and balloons as students celebrated their GCSE results.
A total of 55% of students gained five A* to C grades including English and Maths – up 15% on last year. The results mean a record number of students will stay on to sixth form.
At The Malling School, in Beech Road, East Malling, there was a 10% increase on last year for the number of pupils achieving five A* to C grades including maths and English.
Among the individual successes were twins Zoe and Christa Dawson who each gained 14 GCSEs at A* to C grades and starred distinctions in performing arts, and Emma Skinner, who notched up 15 top grades.
At Hugh Christie Technology College in Tonbridge, 92% of students achieved five or more GCSE grades, with more than half also gaining Maths and English.
Notable top performers included: Sandy Tang; Charlotte Payne; Irtizacorr Nadem; James Upson; Catrina McDonagh and Ryan Strickland.
Executive principal Jon Barker said: “We have increased the proportion of students achieving at least five good GCSE grades by more than 20% in the past two years.”
At Aylesford School Soprts College in Teapot Lane, 47.6% of pupils achieving five A* to C passes including English and Maths, the best results ever for the school, compared to 35% last year.

At Cranbrook School in Waterloo Road, Cranbrook, new head teacher John Weeds said he was delighted with the proportion of A*s and As his students had achieved, and was particularly pleased with three students who gained three 11 A* grades and five who gained 10 of the top grades.
Mr Weeds, who took over as head teacher this year said the school had noticed “some tightening” in the marking, adding: “We’ve noticed that but it hasn’t diminished the quality overall.
“It’s good if there’s rigour in the assessment system. It means GCSE has credibility – it’s a quality qualification and it needs to be seen as a challenge to get top grades.”
Matthew Backx, 16, of Meadow Lane, Edenbridge, was celebrating eight B grades, together with an A and a C at GCSE, having been predicted significantly worse marks.
“I got B grades for all the subjects I was predicted Cs,” he said. “I’m so happy.”
William Newby, 16, of Mockbeggar Lane, Biddenden, confessed to being a “perfectionist” – which helped explain how he scooped an incredible 12A*s and 2A grades.
“I’m really pleased,” he said. “I heard they were being more rigorous and it did worry me a bit.
“I think the whole school did quite well considering they were marking harder.”
He now hopes to do five AS courses, then study at Oxbridge before possibly going on to a career in law.
At Bethany School in Goudhurst, the percentage of A* to C was well above the national average, with 100% of students taking religious studies gaining A*, A and B grades.
Stuart Reeves, head teacher of Mascalls, in Maidstone Road, Paddock Wood, was celebrating an increase in the school’s GCSE pass rate.
The school achieved a 54% rise in A to C marks, including maths and English, which 4% more than the previous year. Pupils achieved a pass rate of 80% in maths and English, which is on par with the last set of results.
He said: “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate everyone, all of the pupils, staff, parents and governors, for their hard work and dedication.”
At Kent College Pembury it was a record breaking year with 58% of passes at A* - A and 26% of grades being an A*.
This is the first set of results since the school’s move to the more rigorous IGCSE for English.
At Homewood School in Tenterden, principal Sally Lees said she was delighted with the school’s above the national average maths results – a 57% pass rate at A*-C.
Pupil Jack Allen, thrilled with his two A*, five As and a C, said: “I am ecstatic, and a bit surprised. I was very nervous about the results”.

For lots more pictures see this week's Kent Messenger.