Harrogate Grammar School, Headteacher, Neil Renton, said:
Today we celebrate the success of an exceptional cohort of Year 11 students who have achieved remarkable GCSE results.
The most challenging context for all students
No one knew what to expect when the government announced the first lockdown in 2020. At the time, this year group was in Year 9. In Year 10, students faced a second national lockdown, adapting again to learning online. They faced Covid tests and vaccinations in school, along with having to adapt to changing rules about wearing face coverings. In all of this, our students showed determination to achieve. They attended Easter revision sessions, additional support sessions and committed themselves to being the best version of themselves – always with a smile and good humour.
Exams returned for the first time in two years
It is important to understand that the exam board examiners marked in the usual way this year — it was not harsher or easier than in a typical year. In recognition of the disruption though, exam boards have set grade boundaries to between the 2019 and 2021 levels. We are incredibly pleased that the results for HGS are above the anticipated national fall in grades.
Progress in English and maths was extremely high with 92% of our students having secured the grades 9 to 4 in both English and maths. Almost half of all grades were at 7, 8 or 9, with students in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Product Design, Music, and Physics achieving between 20 and 35% of grades at the top level 9.
We celebrate the success of all our students and their remarkable achievements reflect not only their drive for success, but our emphasis on providing a broad and balanced curriculum that meets the differing needs of all our learners.
Congratulations and thank you to our students
These exceptional results reflect the tenacity of our students and their own unique story during the pandemic. We would like to thank our teachers, who have worked tirelessly during such an exceptional time, and fully appreciate the support that parents have provided during their children’s time with us. It is this partnership between home and school which continues to be the foundation for our success at HGS.
We could not be prouder of this cohort of remarkable young people. We are very excited to be welcoming a record number of successful students into our high performing Sixth Form where we know they will flourish.
