We are delighted with the success of our 2019 GCSE cohort and in particular that almost a quarter of all grades awarded were at level 8 or 9 (formerly A*), whilst over two fifths were secured at grade 7 or better (formerly A*- A). There were 90 grade 9 results attained from 703 entries, with an overall pass rate of 88.5% which was also a noticeable improvement on last year.

Dr Dando, Director of Studies, was delighted with the Upper Fifth pupils’ achievements: “This is another excellent set of GCSE results. They have continued our upward trend of results over the last five years which is rightly celebrated.” This year’s GCSE cohort had the highest proportion of pupils achieving the very top grade for at least the last five years at St Bede’s College.

Mr Mark Roberts, our new Academic Deputy Head, attended both the A level and GCSE Results Days here at the College and offered the following reflections upon our GCSE successes:

“We are delighted with the very positive GCSE results achieved by our pupils at St Bede’s today. The proportion of our results at grades 9-7 (formerly A*- A) was 42%, which compares extremely favourably to the national figure for England which is 21.9%. This figure is in line with our results over the last five years. The proportion of our results at grades 9-4 (former A*- C) is 88.5%, which again compares very favourably to the national figure for England which was 69.9%, and also compares well to an 89.5% average over the last five years at St Bede’s.”

In spite of the more testing nature of the current specifications a large number of pupils performed well above their expected grades. It looks as though the myriad of lunchtime and after school drop-in support sessions, as well as the Saturday morning revision classes and those taking place throughout study leave, have richly paid off for our dedicated Upper Fifth pupils.

Bede’s News GCSE