Top grade bonanza at GCSE

Jewish schools have followed up their A-level feats with impressive performances at GCSE.

Almost a third of the entries at the private Immanuel College —32 per cent — were awarded the top grade 9 (grades 9 to 7 replaced the old A* and As a few years ago).

More than half of exams at the college— 58 per cent —received a 9 or 8 grade; 75 per cent 9 to 7; and 99.6 per cent at 9 to 4 (4 being generally considered a pass).

Over a third of students, 35 per cent, achieved grade 8 or above in their papers, with four students collecting eleven grade 9s.

Immanuel headmaster Gary Griffin, “These results show that Immanuel College continues to go from strength to strength.”

The college would be welcoming record numbers into its sixth form in September and students “can feel confident that the future will be very bright indeed.”

As with A-levels, results were based on teacher-assessed grades rather than public exams for students who had to cope with more than a year of Covid-related disruptions.

More than one in five — 21 per cent — of exams passed at JFS were at the top grade 9; with 38 per cent of students — 112 in all — achieving at least eight passes at grades 9 to 7.

Students achieved almost a grade higher on average than would have been predicted when they first entered school.

Forty-one per cent of grades were at 9/8; 61 per cent 9 to 7 and 96 per cent 9 to 4.

Leading performers Zoe Burr, Olivia Cohen and Daphna Tweg gained ten 9s a piece, while Daniel Amselli, Niamh Fox, Noa Geva, Toby Kershaw, Charlotte Onona, Ellie Pines and Amelia  Reeves secured nine 9s.

Anna Joseph, the school’s joint interim principal, praised the commitment of students and said, “This accomplishment reflects the strong partnership between school and home”.

At Manchester’s King David High School, 15 students gained at least nine 9s or 8s, led by Ari Cohen with a dozen straight 9s; Nechama Giffen and Max Shalks bagged eleven 9s each and Adam Frost 10.

The school’s chairman Joshua Rowe acclaimed “excellent” results with 31 per cent at 9 or 8; 50 per cent from 9 to 7; and 95 per cent at 9 to 4. Over 93 per cent passed at least five subjects including maths and English at 9 to 4.

“It is important to note that virtually all the students took proper formal exams which were sat under proper exam conditions,” Mr Rowe said.

In the Hasmonean High Schools, the girls outpointed the boys. More than half the girls, 55 per cent, gained eight or more 9 or 8 grades, compared with 39 per cent of the boys.

Overall, the figures for the girls were 78 per cent of grades at 9 to 7 and 93 per cent of students gaining at least five passes at 9 to 4 including maths and English. At the boys’ school, 67 per cent of passes were at 9 to 7 and 88 per cent achieved at least five 9 to 4 grades including for maths and English.

Rabbi Jeremy Golker, principal of the two schools, said the results were “all the more impressive given the amount of time our students dedicate to Torah learning, chesed projects and youth leadership”. 

At JCoSS, almost two in five pupils achieved at least eight GCSEs at grade 7 or better. More than half the subjects — 56 per cent — were passed at grade 7 or better; 37 per cent at 8 or better; and 18 per cent at grade 9.

Michaela Jackson achieved nine 9s, with five others at least eight 9s; Natan Boyd, Daniella Finch Cohen, Adam Jacobs, Scarlett Sherman and Lara Gubbay.
The four students who took Latin all attained grade 9.

Headteacher Patrick Moriarty praised the “phenomenal resilience” and “unrelenting hard work” of students in the face of “huge uncertainty and difficulty”.

Over 30 per cent of students at Liverpool’s King David High School gained at least seven grades at 7 or above, following a 63 per cent A to B pass rate at A-level earlier in the week.

“I am delighted that the efforts of our students have been justly rewarded,” said headteacher Michael Sutton. “During the last two, extremely challenging, years we have seen these students rise to the challenge and work diligently and flexibly to ensure that they still excel.”

Marcy Cohen achieved eight 9s and one 8 and Maya Young five 9s and four 8s.
At Yavneh College, Jacob Greenfield and Benjamin Hirschfield each gained ten 9s, while Hannah Adam, Ellie Fishman, Grace Steinberg and Katie Saleh nine 9s and an 8.

Executive head Spencer Lewis commented, “Following a very difficult period of disruption to school life over the last 18 months, Yavneh College pupils have once again outdone themselves with an incredibly impressive set of GCSE results.
“These results are based on a rigorous set of school based assessments and tests providing each teacher with the information required to assign pupils their correct grades.”

Over a third of passes — 34 per cent — were at 9 or 8 and more than half — 53 per cent — at grade 7 or above, while 90 per cent of students obtained at least five 9 to 4 passes including in maths and English.

Kantor King Solomon’s head Hannele Reece said she was “so proud of the great achievements of all our students despite the challenges and uncertainties of the pandemic”.

Eleven students gained all passes at 7 or above. Overall, 27 per cent of grades were at 9 to 7 and 77 per cent of students achieved at least five passes at 9 to 4 including for English and maths. More than a third of religious studies grades, 37 per cent, were at 7 or above.

Nationally, for a second year grades rose in English schools, according to the Joint Council for Qualifications.

In 2019 pre-Covid, only 4.5 per cent of exams received a grade 9 and 11.2 per cent grade 9 or 8: a year later, these had climbed to 6.3 per cent for the top grade and 14.4 per cent for 9/8: and this summer they increased to 7.4 per cent for 9 and 16.5 per cent for 9/8.

In 2019, 20.6 per cent were graded 7 or above, rising to 25.9 per cent last year and 28.5 per cent this summer. The proportion of exams graded at 4 or above was 67 per cent in 2019; 75.9 per cent last summer and 76.9 per cent this year.