Northern Education Trust (NET), the not-for-profit multi academy trust which sponsors ten secondary academies throughout the northeast and northwest of England, is delighted to announce that its overall results have improved in all headline indicators.
In a year when there has been a great deal of speculation about the new grade boundaries NET academy GCSE students turned in a good performance overall in English and Maths as the new marking system for awarding grades in these two subjects was used for the first time.
The proportion of students achieving a standard pass, the equivalent of last year’s A*-C, improved by a significant margin across the Trust and the Attainment 8 score (achievement across a student’s best eight subjects), also went up by a number of points.
There were some impressive individual performances by academies too. At Dyke House Academy, Hartlepool, which draws from one of the most disadvantaged areas in the country, 70% of students overall achieved a standard pass in English and Maths, which represents an improvement of 27% on last year’s equivalent passes at grades A*-C.
North Shore Academy in Stockton on Tees also improved its score in this measure by 24%.
There were some outstanding individual student successes too. At Dyke House student Rachel Skinner achieved two grade 9s, 6A*s and 3As while Sukaina Ahmed achieved 5A and 6A* achieving a grade 9, the new A*+ in English.
Another student at Thorp Academy in Ryton, Anna Heath, achieved 9s in English and Maths, three A*s and four As.
At Kearsley Academy in Bolton, while 42% of students overall achieved a standard pass in English and Maths, representing an improvement of 12% on last year’s equivalent passes at grades A*-C, in NET’s Kirk Balk Academy in Barnsley, 75% of students overall achieved a standard pass in English, with 68% achieving the same in Maths.
One student, Max Hemmingway achieved an incredible full suite of A* or equivalent grades and qualified for the prestigious new ‘grade 9’ in Maths. Max’s ‘grade 9’ was not an isolated achievement with nine other Kirk Balk students also achieving this grade in either English or Maths. In addition, six students secured over 50 A*/A grades or equivalent between them.
Commenting on these results, Ian Kershaw, the Chief Executive of the Northern Education Trust, said:
“We are pleased to see this improving picture. These results demonstrate that a greater proportion of our young people are achieving more success at GCSE level than ever before The improvement across our academy trust means that more students will be able to progress to further studies and, on to university when they so choose. I am also confident that the students within our Trust will do even better next year”