With stories of GCSE success pouring in from across Brent, we take a look at how secondary schools have fared and highlight some outstanding individual performances.
The picture across the country remained broadly unchanged yesterday with a slight improvement in A*-C pass rates to 69 per cent (up 0.2 pc from last year) and the number of students being awarded the top A* grade edging down by 0.1 pc.
But an initial glance at Brent schools yesterday suggested no shortage of A* sparkle for hundreds of students collecting their hard earned results.
There were jubilant scenes at Capital City Academy in Doyle Gardens, Willesden as year 11 students celebrated the end of a long wait to find out how they had fared.
Star student Priya Tailor, 16, was delighted with her seven A*’s and four A’s.
She said: “It was really such a surprise to get my results. I was expecting A*’s but not as many as I got. This is the end of a lot of sleepless nights for me!”
Priya said she is looking forward to studying A-Levels in chemistry, physics, maths and history.
Nadia Mensah,16, was also buzzing with excitement and said she was “overwhelmed” after opening her results to find she had scored four A*’s, four A’s and 5 B’s. She hopes to repeat her success at A-Level in English Literature, History and French and would like to study at Oxford.
Maya Branch, 16 and Aya Lofty,16, were both very happy with their results and said the secret to their success was careful revision.
Staff at Alperton Community School in Stanley Avenue, Wembley have congratulated their year 11 students on a second year of improved pass rates with 57 per cent of students achieving 5 A*-C grades (including English and Maths) up from 50 pc last year, marking a 14 pc rise over the last the last two years.
The percentage of students achieving the English Baccalaureate- the Government benchmark of 5 A*-C grades in core academic subjects- has also risen by 6 pc.
68 per cent of students achieved the benchmark A*-C in English (up 5 pc on last year) whilst 77pc of students achieved passed with the same grades in maths.
27 students achieved ten A* or A grades, while top performers included Omaima Ali who celebrated achieving twelve A* grades and James Simkins who achieved ten A* grades and three A’s.
Six students achieved the top A* distinction grade in additional maths and students clocked up an impressive 523 A*-A grades between them.
Staff at the school congratulated students on their “tremendous efforts” and are looking forward to a special awards presentation evening in September featuring documentary-maker Louis Theroux as a special guest.
Queen’s Park Community School in Aylestone Avenue was also abuzz with year 11’s nervously clutching their results envelopes.
Oliver Yuen, 16, was one of the school’s star students, clocking up four A*’s and an A* distinction in further maths.
He said: “ I’m really pleased. I worked so hard , I really pushed and believed in myself.”
Oliver is looking forward to studying physics, maths, further maths and biology at A-Level.
He was joined by Gabriel Barnet who was delighted to score four A*’s, five A’s and a B and Sadia Hameed who scored an impressive six A*’s and four A’s.
She said: “My results were better than my predicted grades- I was so anxious this morning and didn’t sleep last night. It all took a while for it to sink in.”
Head teacher Mike Hulme said: “We are very happy with our results, overall it’s been a pretty good year and there have been some outstanding results from individuals, especially in maths with five students scoring A* in their further maths exams and some of them got 11 A*’s.”
The excitement also spread to The Mall in Kenton, where year 11 students at JFS School were celebrating an excellent clutch of results with almost half (48.8 per cent) of all entries gained the top A*-A grades, down slightly from 50.3 pc last year.
A third of students achieved A*-A grades in at least seven of their subjects and 52.2 pc of year 11’s attained the benchmark E Bacc rating.
75.9 pc of students gaining the coveted A*-C grades in five subjects including English and maths, down from 81.9 pc in 2014 while the overall pass rate was 99.9 pc.
Outstanding performers included Jacob Arbeid and Raphael Korber-Hoffman who scored 12 A*’s apiece, Vitale Stone who clocked up 11A*’s and 1 A and Adam Lang who scored 10A*’s and 2A’s.
Students at the Crest Academies in Crest Road Neasden had cause to smile as they saw a 14 per cent rise in the number of students receiving five A*-C grades including English and Maths to 45 pc, up from 31pc last year.
Principal Mohsen Ojja, who is overseeing the merger of the two academies in September said: “This is testament to the hard work of all our students and staff, as well as the support and commitment of their parents, carers and our wider school community.”
Top students were John Kong and Sarah Bouchenir, who were congratulated by Mr Ojja for “stunning” sets of results ranging from 11 A*-B grades while Ines Bouchenir, Usman Imtiaz, Rim Zambour, and Ikra Dahir all achieved 10 A* to B grades in their subjects.
St Augustine’s C of E High School in Oxford Road, Kilburn celebrated their best ever GCSE results, with 68 per cent of students achieving A*-C grades including English and maths, up five percentage points from last year.
Head Teacher Mr Eugene Moriarty said: “Thanks again to everyone who has played a part in these excellent results”.
Wembley High Technology College in East Lane celebrated a record jump in the number of students achieving five A*-C grades including English and maths to 96 per cent, up 12 percentage points on last year (84 pc).
Year 11’s put in a number of impressive performances, with 45 per cent of all entries scoring the top A*-A grades, while 40 pupils achieved ten or more A*-A grades and 84 pupils celebrated five or more A*-A grades.
Head teacher Gill Bal said: “ Many congratulations to all pupils, staff and parents for all their hard work and support- well done!”
Students at Whitefield school in Claremount Road have outperformed previous years, with the number of students achieving five A* to C grades bouncing to 60 per cent from 49pc in 2014.
In total, 20pc of all entries gained the top A*-A grades and staff were also pleased to see a rise in the number of A and B grades.
Amongst students celebrating outstanding results were Samar Casaneau, who picked up 12 A*-A grades, Hamdani Bin Wan Mohd Azmi who scored 11 A*-A grades, and Ilham Ibrahmi who achieved ten A*-A’s.
The school saw dramatic improvements on last year’s A*-C results in individual subjects, particularly in English Literature with 82pc of students making the benchmark pass grades, up from 53pc in 2014.
Students also performed strongly in languages, with 100 pc of all entrants scoring A*-C in Spanish and French.
Head teacher Elizabeth Rymer said: “I am delighted that the hard work so many of our students have put into their studies has paid off with some truly amazing examination results this year.
“I know that all the staff and Governors of the school will want to say a massive congratulations to all students on their results and join with me in wishing students the best of luck with their next steps within education whether it be at Whitefield, other colleges or abroad.”
The good news continued to roll in at Preston Manor School in Carlton Avenue, Wembley as students cheered an overall 60% of their year group achieving five A*-C grades including English and Maths.
Staff were delighted that 44 per cent of their students obtained the benchmark EBacc qualification in core academic subjects including English, maths, sciences, history and geography and a language.
Lindsay Browning, Director of student development for year 11 paid tribute her “wonderful students” for their results and congratulated a number of stand-out performers for their efforts.
Amongst the top students were Maima Mohamed, who achieved nine A*’s and one A, Vanisha Patel who scored eight A*’s and two A’s- all but one of which exceeded her predicted grades, and Alaila Chawdry and Mahreen Nawaz who achieved seven A*’s and three A’s apiece.
In a statement released on the school’s website, staff said: “Congratulations to our students on their excellent results.”
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