Praise for pupils as Camden's GCSE pass numbers rise again
Published: 20th January, 2011
by JOSIE HINTON
SCHOOL pupils in Camden have achieved their best ever GCSE marks for the consecutive fourth year.
Results for last year show the percentage of youngsters gaining five or more GCSEs at A* to C has risen to 69 per cent – a 5 per cent increase on last year.
Seven out of nine schools have also improved their figures for the number of students achieving five or more A* to C grades including English and maths – a total of 53 per cent overall.
The biggest increase was at Parliament Hill, which saw a staggering 16 per cent rise in the numbers of pupils achieving top marks.
This year’s results have caused national controversy over the introduction of the English Baccalaureate (EB), which measures students performance in “traditional” academic subjects such as science, history or geography and a foreign language. Critics argue that as the new measure was brought in retrospectively, schools could not be expected to score highly.
But, at 17 per cent, Camden scored above the national average for the EB. This included 52 per cent of pupils at Camden School for Girls and 30 per cent at William Ellis scoring A* to C grades in these subjects.
Schools chief Councillor Heather Johnson said she was “immensely proud” of the achievement.
She added: “These results are testament to the hard work of the students themselves but also of the teachers and teaching staff whose dedication helps our schools go from strength to strength. I hope all our students use their impressive results as a springboard to further education or work.
“I would like to congratulate everyone involved.”