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LIVE BLOG: GCSE results day

Results are out today at 9.30am. We are celebrating everyone’s successes, but with a particular interest in schools in challenging circumstances. We want to highlight and give some well-deserved praise to schools which have had a tough few years after being rated as inadequate by Ofsted, but are on their improvement journey. Again, we will […]

Heads’ fears over GCSE results day

GCSE results day is, rightly so, all about the kids; their triumphs, disappointment, tears and leaps in the air. But what about the headteachers – how do they feel on GCSE results day? Schools Week has spoken to three heads to find out…   “It’s something that builds from around April,” said John Tomsett, head […]

How long do GCSE remarks take? An increasingly long time…

Pupils needing GCSE remarks before confirming a college place are waiting increasingly long times, Ofqual figures show. On average, pupils waited an average 11 days last year before receiving the results of remarked individual exams, known as Priority Service 2 reviews. In 2013 the figure was 10 days, and in 2010 it was just seven. […]

Where pupils live affects their A level choices, data reveals

Regional differences in post-16 provision could affect young people’s chances of getting into top universities, data released today shows. Analysis by Education Datalab’s chief statistician Dave Thompson, based on children who completed GCSEs in 2011, found that pupils at secondary schools without sixth forms were less likely to get places at Russell Group universities. A […]

What policy conclusions can we draw from the A Level results in 2015?

Politicians often claim that results show their favoured policy reform worked – but do this year’s figures stand up to scrutiny? Editor Laura McInerney checks out the data.   Forty-five minutes after the release of today’s A level results a statement from schools minister Nick Gibb popped into my inbox, headed with three statements:   […]

So after all the huffing about A level resits – it matters exactly 0.1%

Today’s A level results have moved at fingernail pace. The overall pass rate is up 0.1% and the proportion of A* and A grades has moved down 0.1%. Don’t all faint with excitement, please. But there’s an important policy lesson here. This cohort were the first to sit AS and A2 exams without January resits. […]

Hartsdown Academy pupil Holly gets top grades after devastating house fire

Cerebral palsey sufferer Holly Brooks, from Hartsdown Academy in Margate, is heading to Canterbury Christ Church University after achieving a double distinction in child care and health and social care, just weeks after a fire wrecked her family home. Holly, 18, lost her independence when her specially designed £7,000 electric wheelchair perished in the blaze […]

ANALYSIS: A level results 2015 subject by subject

A level results saw “no major change” today, with a very minor 0.1 percentage point increase in the overall pass rate. By subject, however, there were some more noticeable differences. As reported earlier, Further Maths saw the biggest jump in the number of A*s awarded to this year’s cohort – taking it up to 29 […]