Provisional figures indicate a big improvement in GCSE performance in Brighton and Hove’s secondary schools this year.
The results released today (Thursday 20 August) suggest that in Brighton and Hove’s state schools the percentage of pupils achieving A* to C in English is above the national average. The figure locally is 73 per cent compared with 65 per cent nationally.
In maths the percentage of pupils achieving A* to C is also above the national average at 69 per cent locally compared with a national figure of 63 per cent.
The benchmark figure for the proportion of students achieving at least five A* to C grades including English and maths has risen 6 percentage points.
The figure has gone up from 54 per cent a year ago to 60 per cent this year. The national figure for this has not been released yet.
Several schools are reporting their best ever results. Patcham High and Blatchington Mill reported rises of at least 10 percentage points for the benchmark five GCSEs at A* to C including English and maths.
The chair of the council’s Children, Young People and Skills Committee, Councillor Tom Bewick, said: “Our young people have worked very hard and should be proud of this very impressive performance.
“Our schools and the council’s education team also deserve a lot of credit for the hard work they have put in this year.
“These results are the final set in a year where we’ve seen improvements in citywide performance for all age groups.
“This is great news but it also has to be seen as a work in progress. I want to see a lot more of our young people achieving the benchmark five good GCSEs figure in future.
“I will be calling on our schools and the council’s education team to redouble their efforts to drive forward further improvements in the coming years.”
The benchmark percentage for each secondary school is
School 2015 2014
Blatchington Mill 70 60
Brighton Aldridge Community Academy 30 29
Cardinal Newman 65 62
Dorothy Stringer 73 65
Hove Park 61 61
Longhill 48 50
Patcham High 59 47
Portslade Aldridge Community Academy 60 51
Varndean 58 49
Citywide 60 54