Schools in Headington and Oxford High School have celebrated another year of "excellent" GCSE results, with headteachers praising the “work ethic” of pupils during a “challenging period” which included "isolation and disruption".
With thousands receiving GCSE grades this morning (August 24) and the number of top grades being handed out down nationally, schools in Oxford have bucked the trend, with pupils continuing to show off their academic excellence.
At Headington School, 26 girls achieved 10 or more 8s or above, whilst four performed exceptionally well by achieving straight 9s.
At Oxford High School (OHS), there was also a large number of pupils who performed exceptionally well, with 48 per cent of the GCSEs awarded to pupils being 9s and 75 per cent being either 8s or 9s.
OHS acknowledged this year's cohort of GCSE students had spent “their years 8 and 9 working remotely from home and separated from their friends and teachers”.
Vivienne Howells, who will study at Headington School for her A levels, achieved eight 9s and two 8s, said she was a “bit worried” about her results due to the “news that A level results were lower than last year” but she was “over the moon”.
Ms Howells, who will study Greek, Latin, French and English for A-levels, has set her sights on studying classics at Cambridge University.
The school said many who picked up their results this morning were on route to Reading Festival, which has become a tradition for those celebrating their GCSE results.
Among those heading to Reading is Megan Park.
The Headington School pupil will be celebrating her six 9s and four 8s.
Ms Park said: “Everyone was happy so it was really nice and we could all congratulate each other.”
Headington School’s headmistress Caroline Jordan said she was “impressed” by students’ work ethic, and she couldn’t “wait to see what fantastic things they will achieve in sixth form and beyond.”
Marina Gardiner Legge, head of Oxford High School, echoed Ms Jordan’s thoughts and praised pupils for being “courageous and bold” in navigating “post-pandemic learning”.
She said: “We all work so hard to support young people as they reach big moments like this, particularly for a generation that has needed to be quite so resilient after facing lockdown, isolation and disrupted learning.”
A number of outstanding performers at Oxford High School included Cecily and Lowenna.
Cecily spent the summer at England women’s under 16 international fixture camp and she was recently picked for Oxford United’s women’s first team.
In addition to her progress on the pitch, six of Cecily’s 10 results were 9s.
Lowenna has also had sporting success outside of school, as she was recognised as an advanced novice girls champion at the British Figure Skating Championships in 2021 and Bronze in 2022.
Her success continued in the exam hall, as she achieved all grades 7-9 in her GCSEs.
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