Montpelier High School maintained its record of academic excellence with an exceptional set of GCSE results.
An outstanding 85 per cent of students achieved at least a grade 4 in English and Maths, with more than two thirds (68 per cent) gaining a grade 5 or above.
Academic attainment overall was in line with or above 2019 pre-Covid outcomes.
Headteacher Ben Spence congratulated the students on their success. They are well set for the next steps towards their future goals, with a large proportion opting to remain at MHS in its inclusive and welcoming co-educational sixth form, V6.
The school saw some outstanding individual performances, such as Alys Wood and Maja Piwarska, who each earned eight grade nines.
Among other high achievers were:
• Emily Soar, Maeva Page Cotton and Iris Jordan: seven 9s, 8s in other subjects.
• Anna Raju and Iris Jordan: six 9s, 8s in other subjects.
• Chloe McGregor: seven 9s, one 8 and one 7
• Isabella Bassett: six 9s, two 8s and one 7.
• Brooke Logan and Bethan Walker: five 9s and the rest 8s.
Brooke said: “I am very happy with my grades and am looking forward to joining V6 to do A-levels in French, Psychology, English Literature and History. I am thinking of maybe going into law.
“My teachers have been so supportive. They have always tried to make sure everyone feels happy and safe at school as well as doing well academically.
“I have been part of the School Parliament and there has been a focus on listening to what students want and acting on it.”
A number of students exceeded their target grades. Esha Bibi, who was predicted 4s did fantastically well to achieve one 8, three 7s, four 6s and two 5s while Sally Naser got four 9s, two 8s, two 7s and one 6.
Esha was thrilled with her grades, especially in the science subjects, as she plans to study Maths, Biology and Chemistry at V6 and intends to join the armed services before university.
Anastasija Sobol, who suffered from long Covid throughout Year 11 and especially in the examination period, which led to her missing some papers, emerged with a clutch of high grades.
She said: “It was really tough – on some days I was I fainting in the mornings before exams, which was very unpleasant. But I managed to sit at least one paper in every subject and all papers in some subjects, which I was very proud about.”
Anastasija, from Lockleaze, had Covid in January 2022 and began experiencing long Covid symptoms a couple of months afterwards. She later developed problems with blood pressure and heart rate and was diagnosed with orthostatic postural hypotension and postural orthostatic taschycardia syndrome (POTS). Anastasija was able to take enough of the exams for the marks for the papers she missed to be estimated. She has now been discharged from the long Covid clinic and is making a steady recovery and study for A-levels in Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry and Computer Science at V6.