All 179 Year 11 pupils at Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet, reached the Government’s key GCSE benchmark of five A*-C grades including English and Mathematics. In fact, QE far exceeded the national measure: 98% of pupils secured five or more A*-A grades, while these top two grades also accounted for 89% of all GCSEs taken.
The GCSE results come a week after QE’s best-ever A-level results, which saw the boys’ grammar school once again take the number 1 place in the Times’ and Daily Telegraph’s national league tables of state schools.
99.4% of candidates achieved the Government’s other preferred GCSE measure, the EBacc, by gaining A*-C passes in English, Mathematics, History or Geography, Science and a language.
Nearly 61% of the 1,788 GCSEs taken at QE received an A* this year: 2016 is the fifth consecutive year in which the percentage of examinations awarded this highest possible grade has exceeded 60%.
Congratulating the boys, Headmaster Neil Enright said: “This year group is very characterful, with an especially wide range of different interests. They represent very well the broad and varied approach to education here that underpins our academic success. They have worked hard and taken inspiration from the staff.”
Of particular note among the school’s GCSE results was the performance in Mathematics: 174 boys, or 97% of the year, received an A*. The Science results were also extremely strong, with every single Biology candidate awarded A*.
“There were in fact excellent results across a wide variety of subjects, including those for which boys sit the rigorous IGCSE examinations,” Mr Enright added. “Our pupils have laid a very firm foundation for the start of their Sixth Form courses in the new term.
“Both at last week’s A-level results and this week’s GCSEs, I have been thrilled to share these successes with parents as well as the boys. I would like to pay tribute to the great support afforded by our parents to their sons, not only in supporting academic work at home but also through their turning out in considerable numbers to drama productions, concerts, sports events and similar occasions.”
Other noteworthy aspects of this year’s results included:
-
- A perfect performance by the first group of boys to learn Spanish, an after-school activity introduced three years ago, when the boys were in Year 9. All seven GCSE candidates gained an A*.
-
- In total, 118 boys took separate Science GCSEs. All 118 gained an A* in Biology; in Physics, 116 received A* and two were awarded As; in Chemistry, 112 secured A*s, while six had As.
-
- In Year 10, all 14 boys taking the Edexcel Higher Project Level 2 were awarded an A*. This qualification gives pupils the chance to study a topic of their choice in depth.
-
- Full GCSEs were taken in 21 subjects, with a further two short-course GCSEs in Religious Studies and PE.
GCSEs: results from schools in Harrow, Edgware, Mill Hill, Hendon, Finchley, Barnet and Potters Bar – The Barnet Times, Thursday 25 August 2016
The Telegraph – Friday 26 August 2016
The Times – Friday 26 August 2016
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The Parent Power Schools Guide results provide confirmation of the very high levels we reach at QE. I am most grateful to my colleagues on the staff, the boys’ parents, our governors, alumni and the School’s wider community of friends who all contribute so much to create the scholarly and supportive environment in which our boys thrive.”
Similarly, Year 11 boys shrugged off changes including the new GCSE grading system. The 2017 GCSE results were the School’s best ever, with a record 70% of examinations taken achieving the very highest grades of A* or the equivalent 8 and 9.
“Through our carefully planned programme of academic enrichment, we seek to foster habits of intellectual curiosity and to nurture an atmosphere of scholarship that takes boys well beyond the confines of the classroom syllabus as they progress through the School. One example of this is the regula r series of academic symposia in which our boys meet up with girls from high-achieving partner schools – including our good friends at Henrietta Barnett – to discuss and debate ideas and contemporary issues.”
QE is also notable for the great emphasis placed on extra-curricular activities beyond the classroom – the School has a wide range of clubs and activities as well as many opportunities in sport, music and drama. “We strongly encourage all our boys to throw themselves into such aspects of School life,” said Mr Enright. “Our recent poetry-themed music concert and our acclaimed performances in the Shakespeare Schools Foundation’s annual festival are examples of our success in the performing arts, while our young sportsmen enjoy UK and overseas tours, as well as a competitive fixture list and inter-House competitions.
“Our aim is that the very bright boys who come here should fulfil their potential and, in so doing, that they should flourish and have fun. To that end, we have developed a strong pastoral care system which helps boys give of their best while also ensuring that we monitor their welfare carefully and that expert assistance is on hand for pupils who start to struggle for any reason.”
