51% of grades 7+ or A*/A

One third of all grades 8+ or A*

Record 14% of grades at the new highest grade 9

81% of grades A*/A for 21 New Hall 11-year-olds who achieved Level 1 GCSE in their Politics Academic Projects

Record 90% of grades 5+ or A*-B

Record 98% of grades 4+ or A*-C

100% GCSE success rate

Students from New Hall School, the UK’s largest Catholic boarding & day school for students aged 1-18, are celebrating record-breaking GCSE results, following on from their most successful ever A Level results, last week.  A record 90% of grades at GCSE were at 5+ or A*-B with a third of all grades at 8+ or A* and 51% of grades at 7+ or A*/A.  The students also achieved a record 14% of grades at the new highest grade 9, three times the national average.

Principal, Katherine Jeffrey, said: “Once again, we are extremely proud of our students’ fantastic GCSE successes. Today’s results are testament to the ‘diamond model’ of education, in which girls and boys are taught separately from the ages of 11-16. The ‘diamond model’ sees our top performers equally divided between boys and girls.”

Individual successes include:

Top performing students included, Daisy Theakston, who achieved ten grade 9s and one grade 8; Daisy Alderson, who achieved eight grade 9s, three grade 8s and one grade 7; Charlotte Day, who achieved six grade 9s, four grade 8s and one grade 7; Felix Ruiz, who achieved two grade 9s, seven grade 8s and two grade 7s; Pritika Pushpakaran, who achieved nine grade 9s and one grade 8; Jessica Ferguson, who achieved five grade 9s and five grade 8s; Guy Ridsdill Smith, who achieved four grade 9s and six grade 8s; Aditya Shinde, who achieved five grade 9s, four grade 8s and one grade 7; Georgiana Ridley, who achieved two grade 9s, seven grade 8s and one grade 7; Claudia Mack, who achieved four grade 9s, four grade 8s and two grade 7s; Harvey White, who achieved four grade 9s, three grade 8s and three grade 7s; Romi Silvester, who achieved six grade 8s and four grade 7s; Annabel Smith, who achieved six grade 8s and four grade 7s; and Katerina Derevianko, who achieved three grade 9s, three grade 8s and three grade 7s/As.

Ben Hutton-Penman, 2018 RS Feva World Sailing Champion, also achieved four grade 9s, four grade 8s and one grade 7 (and one grade 5). Ben sat his mock examinations whilst competing in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers sailing race, completing an Atlantic crossing in 17 days.

Head of Girls’ & Boys’ Division, Suzanna Minnis, said: “I am delighted to celebrate these fantastic results with our students and their families. The hard work and determination of students and staff has clearly paid off and it is wonderful to see the students’ excitement today.  The holistic education offered by the School provides the best possible preparation for our students to continue their studies in the Sixth Form.”

Outstanding achievers include many boarding students.  Vice Principal, Julius Sidwell, said: “The benefits of boarding at New Hall are reflected in this year’s outstanding GCSE results, with 78 A*s or 8/9 and 74 As or 7s achieved by the 38 boarders in this year group.  The strong pastoral and academic support offered to our boarders has led to their gaining excellent GCSE results. The time saved by taking away daily travel to and from school, as well as the dedicated study time and out-of-hours help from academic staff enable our boarding students to excel in the classroom as well as to enjoy the full co-curricular programme of activities offered daily at New Hall.”

New Hall makes means-tested bursaries available to support the education of students whose families would not otherwise be able to afford the fees.  Principal, Katherine Jeffrey, said: “As well as running a multi-academy trust for a local primary school, New Hall provides public benefit through generous levels of bursary provision.  18 GCSE students benefited from bursaries or scholarships this year, of up to 100% of fees.  These students achieved outstanding GCSE results.  We are delighted that these students have made the most of the educational opportunities provided by the bursaries they were awarded.”

New Hall Preparatory Division is also celebrating 81% of grades at A*/A for twenty-one 11-year olds who achieved a Level 1 GCSE in their Politics Foundation Project Qualifications.  Mr Moulton, Head of Preparatory Division, said: “Our pupils should be very proud for achieving such outstanding results in a GCSE project 5 years early. We are delighted to be able to offer this unique course, which offers our pupils exposure to the world of politics and current affairs early in their school career.”