Top of the class! County pupils are above average when it comes to GCSEs

Hertfordshire’s star pupils are a cut above the rest with this year’s GCSE results scoring over the national average.
Letters have criticised the 11-plusLetters have criticised the 11-plus
Letters have criticised the 11-plus

The government’s latest performance tables suggest the county’s cohort of Year 11 pupils chalked up top marks, with almost 10% more students in the county achieving five or more A* to C grades than those nationally.

Provisional statistics from the Department for Education show that percentage of top achievers (including English and maths subjects) has dropped by 4.7 percentage points nationally from 60.6% in 2013 to 55.9% cent in 2014.

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In contrast, Herts results show a whopping 65.8% of students are making the highest grades.

The figures still represent a decline of half a percentage point, however, following significant changes introduced to the way results are calculated. The drop is still 4.2% lower compared with the country as a whole.

The achievement is reflected by Ofsted, which rates 74.7% of Hertfordshire’s secondary schools as good or outstanding.

This is up 1.3% on last year, and three percentage points above the national average.

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Herts County Council has praised the hard work and dedication of staff and students this year, which saw the introduction of the calculation changes.

Cabinet member for education and skills Chris Hayward said: “We are immensely proud of the achievements of our young people and the teachers who have helped them be successful in their recent exams.

“We are delighted with the performance of all our schools where some 82% of all schools across the board are receiving ‘outstanding’ and ‘good’ reports from Ofsted. Our aim is to make that figure 100 per cent by 2017.

“It really is a credit to everyone involved in education in Herts that our schools continue to be among the best in the country. By achieving better than pupils nationally, our pupils are in a much better position for the next level of their education or training to achieve their full potential.”

For more information about the performance of Hertfordshire’s schools visit www.hertsdirect.org/services/edlearn/schlife/exams/tables/

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