Jewish schools celebrate GCSE results success

Jewish schools are celebrating another year of outstanding GCSE results – with most reporting more than 75 percent of students earning A-C grades – bucking the national trend which has seen grades fall to their lowest in a decade.

Nervous year 11 students from Yavneh College, JFS, JCoSS, Hasmonean, Immanuel College and King Solomon collected their grades on Thursday morning.

Despite a national fall in A*-C grades to 66.9 percent, Jewish schools outperformed their non-Jewish counterparts – all getting above 75 percent in that bracket.

JFS in Kenton saw over 50 percent of grades in the A*-A category with 89 percent in the A*-C bracket. The results were welcomed by Debby Lipkin, Executive Headteacher, and the senior leadership team at the school, who said they were “delighted by these results and are proud of all our students who truly deserve these outstanding grades.

Kantor King Solomon saw 77 percent of grades in the A*-C range, an increase on last year’s 60 percent. These were the best results ever for the school, and were praised by Matthew Slater Headteacher as being a “testament to the focus, determination, skill and tenacity of our teaching staff and our students.”

Following their inaugural set of results in 2015, JCoSS in Barnet announced a slight fall in the share of A*-C grades in line with the national trend, dropping from 86 to 80 percent. Headteacher, Patrick Moriarty said he was however “thrilled”, adding that the “second year of full GCSE results confirms our place on the map of high performing schools”.

Yavneh College, also saw a small drop in A*-C grades, at 82.4 percent, down from 2015’s 85 percent. Executive Headteacher, Spencer Lewis however said “these grades are a result of a lot of hard work and there is so much of which to be really proud once again this year. These GCSE results and last week’s A Level results are a source of great pride for our entire school community.”

For a sixth year in a row, Hasmonean High School ensured over 50 percent of grades were A*-A, though it fell from 59 to 53 percent from 2015. 91 percent of results were in the A*-C bracket. Andrew McClusky, Executive Headteacher said the results showed the school “has a great deal to celebrate.”

Immanuel College increased their share of A*-C grades from 2015 to 97percent, which is the second highest for a GCSE cohort in their history, whilst the school maintained a level of 34 percent A* grades.