Schools across Westminster celebrate GCSE success

A unique results day takes place as students receive teacher assessed grades amid a pandemic

The full picture of GCSE results across Westminster, London, and the rest of the UK will not be completely clear for a few days yet. However, despite the disruption young people have experienced this year there are many proud, pleased, successful students in Westminster celebrating as they move on to the next stage of their lives - whether that is education, apprenticeships, or work-training programmes.

Cllr Timothy Barnes, Westminster City Council Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, said:

“The disruption that our young people have faced to their usual schooling has been unprecedented this year.

“So many of our young people have worked extremely hard to overcome these immense challenges and it’s because of this that I am proud and pleased for the students across Westminster who have excelled in their results. It’s been great to hear stories of individual triumphs passed on by our schools.

“Whatever the outcomes of this stage of their lives, I wish all our young people the very best for their future education, apprenticeship, or training.”

Marylebone Boys’ School saw some fantastic achievements from their second cohort to receive GCSE results since the formation of the school in 2014. 21% of pupils achieved top grades of 7-9 in 5 subjects or more, as well as 85% of pupils achieving at least a pass in both core subjects of maths and English.

As well as great results for the whole cohort, there are also some considerable personal achievements for students. John Devlin achieved top marks with ten Grade 9s, while Muhamed Kalathingal and Gabriel Gaspar received impressive results of two Grade 8s and eight Grades 9s each. Mohammed Al Ramahi also soared with his results of one Grade 7, one Grade 8 and eight Grade 9s.

Westminster City School saw record-breaking results from their GCSE cohort as 83% of all grades were 4 and above. This continues their habit of achieving a pass-rate above the national average and is fantastic news for their students after a challenging year.

Individually, Shreyas Nair received Grade 9 for each of his twelve GCSE subjects. He will join the Westminster City School Sixth Form in autumn to study A-Level maths, further maths, and physics. Zavier Achiampong achieved four Grade 9s, five Grade 8s, and two Grade 7s contributing to the record-breaking year for the school.

Unfortunately, some of their students still have to wait for their BTec results but will continue to receive support from the school in the meantime.

Students at Westminster Academy worked extremely hard from the beginning of September in anticipation of their final exam year. This continued right up until the lockdown period, with some students even staying until 7pm. The students were supported throughout lockdown and continued their study independently to achieve a provisional result of 78% of students achieving pass grades in both English and maths.

Again, there were some stand-out performers in their GCSE cohort with Ariana Prada achieving nine Grade 9s and one Grade 8. Ariana adapted quickly and effectively to UK schooling after moving here two years ago and these impressive results are testament to her work. Murbarkh Abdulhamid received eight Grade 9s and one Grade 8, with Kush Majithia receiving six Grade 9s and three Grade 8s.

The Beachcroft AP Academy also saw positive results, 100% of their students gained accreditation with 90% achieving at least five GCSEs or equivalent. Nearly a quarter of learner achieved Grade 4 or above in English and maths. One individual received eight GCSEs Grade 4 or above, including three Grade 7s.

These initial signs of success we have seen from our secondary schools and academies reflect those we saw last week from our sixth forms and colleges in Westminster and point towards further great results next year. Our young people have cemented Westminster’s reputation as a great place to live and learn.