GCSE results have finally rolled in for thousands of students across the UK who have been eagerly awaiting their grades all summer.
Topping the leaderboard once again this year were teens from the Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL), with seven superstar students picking up 10 A* grades.
Tamanna Dasanjh, Mahika Gogi, Sanjana Gunasekaran, Snigdha Mahajan, Nicky Scott, Ripudaman Singh and Harin Wijayathunga all achieved the outstanding feat on 25th August as they ripped open their envelopes.
Snigdha Mahajan said: “I was speechless. I had to stare at the results for a long time before I could believe my eyes.
“This has made my summer.”
Other star performers at the school included Tanaya Maslekar and Bushra Tellisi who both achieved nine A*s and one A grade each.
In all, students notched up a stunning 654 passes at A* which amounts to 36 per cent of grades achieved at GSAL.
Principal Sue Woodroofe said: “I could not be more proud of this year’s GCSE cohort. These results testify to the outstanding achievements of a wonderful group of year 11 students and promise much for their A-level futures.
“I am grateful to staff and parents whose support for, and encouragement of, the children has been first class.”
Away from GSAL, another stand-out academic performance was from Bradford-born Wajedur Chowdhury who studies at Bradford Grammar School.
He was awarded six A*s and four A grades at GCSE with his highest scores in French, German, Spanish, Latin and Physics showing off his polyglot potential.
Nationally, according to figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications on Thursday morning, girls continue to outperform boys at GCSE although grades have fallen across the board.
The figures also show that the gender gap has increased slightly, by 0.5 per cent this summer, with 71.3 per cent of girls’ entries awarded at least a C grade, compared with 62.4 per cent of boys’.
This is the final year in which GCSE results, introduced nearly 30 years ago, will be scored entirely with grades A* to G.
From next summer, pupils will take reformed courses in English language, English literature and maths. These subjects will be marked numerically – from a nine for the top-performing students down to one for those who find the topics challenging.
The changes will be rolled out across a further 17 subjects by the summer of 2018.
