• Gateshead Council’s overall percentage of students gaining 5 A* to C has risen by over 3% again this year to 84.6%
• This is the 15th year Gateshead’s GCSE figures have improved.
• The number of pupils achieving 5 A* to C including English and Maths has also improved to 53.9%
• Since 1997, more than 45% of 16 year-olds have achieved 5 A* - C in Gateshead schools and since 2005, there has been a 13% increase in the number of pupils achieving 5 top grades including English and Maths

Percentage of pupils having achieved five or more GCSEs graded A* to C

Percentage of five or more graded A*- C including English and Maths

Councillor Catherine Donovan, cabinet member for children and young people at Gateshead Council, said:

"The trend of ever improving results, although provisional at this stage, has clearly continued, highlighting the dedication of Gateshead’s focused teaching staff and pupils alike.

“Standards for English and Maths have remained high and will provide an excellent platform to consolidate our leading position and push on to ever increasing levels of excellence.

“It is gratifying to see that in these difficult times of economic uncertainty pupils in Gateshead are giving themselves a great start in life.

THE SCHOOLS

Mrs Barbara Rouse, Headteacher at Kingsmeadow Community Comprehensive School, said:

“We are delighted with this year’s results, our year 11 students have performed well above their targets to give the school their best ever results for the second year in a row. More significantly the percentage of students with five or more GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and maths is up by 15% on last year, confirming our recent Ofsted inspection that students of all abilities make excellent progress at Kingsmeadow.

“Our students can be very proud of their achievements. Their success is as a result of their hard work, the support of parents and the commitment and dedication of the staff. We look forward to welcoming many of them back into the sixth form in September.

Mrs Jackie Barker, Headteacher at Thomas Hepburn Community School, said:

We are delighted with the outstanding achievement of our students. Their hard work and dedication has resulted in another year of exceptional results in our school. For the fifth year running our students have continued an upward trend of improvement, exceeding both personal and whole school targets. Amongst these results there are numerous stories of individual achievement and success, with many of our young people achieving top grades in their GCSEs. The young people from The Thomas Hepburn Community School have a right to feel very proud today.

71.3% achieved 5+A*-C at GCSE, a staggering 19% increase in the last 2 years. 41.4% achieved these top grades in at least 5 five subjects including English and Mathematics. This represents a 5% increase in the last two years.

I would like to express my personal thanks and congratulations to every young person from the class of 2010. My thanks also go to the staff and parents/carers who supported these young people on their journey through our school.

Mr Peter Crabtree, Headteacher at Hookergate School said:

“These are our best ever results and we are proud and elated to have reached our target figures in every area.

“The percentage increases we have seen have been astounding and it’s down to motivated and hard-working pupils who have been very receptive to really good teaching by a dedicated team of staff.

“This year group has exceeded our expectations and we feel some effective curriculum changes have proved to pay off.”

Mr Allan Fuller, Headteacher at Joseph Swan School said:

“Obviously delighted to see that our overall results have improved again and now stand at the highest ever achieve by our school. Coming hard on the heels of our best ever A Level results last week these reflect the ongoing commitment to our students to ensure that every one achieves across the school”

Mr Steve Williamson, Headteacher at Ryton Comprehensive School said:

“We are very pleased with the GCSE results which show that we are continuing on an upward trend.

“Students and staff have worked together exceptionally well and this is a well-deserved success.”

Mr Nick Hurn, Headteacher at Cardinal Hume Catholic School said:

“The results are very pleasing this year and some of our individual students have performed outstandingly well.

“Congratulations to them all.”

Mr John Bleasdale, Headteacher at Whickham School said:

“Yet another record year for Whickham School and Sports College, with 88% of students achieving 5A*-C grades and more than 20% of all grades being at A*/A.

“As usual there have been some outstanding individual performances with 37 students achieving more than 5 A* or A.

“Some particular notable achievements being Jessica Linfoot with 14 A*/A while Laura Convery and Robbie Costello both achieved 11A*/A. Overall, 46% of students achieved at least 1 A or A*.

“This is another excellent result and is tribute to the hard work the students and their teachers have put in over a long period of time.”