Westbourne pupils are celebrating today after achieving record GCSE results.
100% of our students attained A*-C (9-4 under the reformed GCSE grading system), with 86% achieving the highest grades, A*/A (9-7), showing improvement across the board on last year’s already outstanding grades.
Exceptional performances came from Olivia with 11 grade 9s, along with Mayra (Year 10), who skipped Year 9 to be awarded four grade 9s two years early.
Our Pre-IB students all attained a minimum of five GCSEs at top grades, preparing them for the academic challenges of the two-year International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in Sixth Form.
Lilian, who scored an excellent 10 grade 9s, one grade 8 and an A*, was overjoyed with her results this morning, saying:
Teachers from across the school praised the determination and brilliant work ethic of all of our GCSE students today, whose exceptional results follow more than a year of uncertainty and unprecedented levels of pressure.
Lockdown will go down in history as the single biggest hurdle school students have ever faced, forcing them to change the way they learn. The results today are our best to date; but most importantly are a true reflection of the ability and potential of this incredible cohort, who have been undeterred by the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic.
Westbourne provided personalised, one-to-one support for all students remotely throughout Wales’ two national lockdowns. As well as offering 24/7 support online, the school implemented new technologies to enable students to thrive remotely, appointing a new Director of Online Education and retraining staff to teach online so that no student was disadvantaged.
Alongside an uninterrupted daily schedule of intensive online lessons and wellbeing sessions, Westbourne was also one of the first schools in Wales to use artificial intelligence to enhance the way pupils learn.
Our record-breaking GCSE results follow the school’s best ever Sixth Form results last month, in which 50% of Westbourne students achieved over 40 points (the A Level equivalent of 4 A*’s), with 85% attaining 7/6 (A*/A equivalent) and 96.8% (A*-B). The results secured students entry to some of the country’s top universities, including the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London and UCL.
Congratulations to all our GCSE and Pre-IB students for such a fantastic performance!