Live Blog: West Berkshire and North Hampshire GCSE results day 2023
Good luck to all the year 11 pupils across West Berkshire and North Hampshire who will be receiving their GCSE results this morning (Thursday).
This is the second year that pupils returned to taking exams, after they were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic, when grades were given based on teacher assessments.
As with last week's A-Level results, we will be bringing you all the reports and photos from schools across the district throughout the day on our live blog.
Our reporters – John Garvey, Hinna Aamani, Cameron Blackshaw, Mirek Gosney and Robbie Stelling – and our photographer – Pete Bloodworth – are all out across the whole district today talking to students about their achievements.
You can also send us your photos of you and your friends celebrating by posting on our Facebook page or emailing them to newsdesk@newburynews.co.uk
Keep an eye on Newburytoday all day and check if we captured you and your classmates celebrating all your hard work over the past few years.
You can also find full coverage and pictures in next week’s NWN. And don’t forget to pick up a copy of today’s paper to see all of our A-Level coverage.
Good luck everyone!
Theale Green School
Year 11 pupils excelled across all areas and the school particularly wishes to highlight the achievements of Lauren Clifford, Kush Patel, Amy Wilkes and James Young who scored 11 grade nines and 13 grade eight results between them.
Headteacher, Charlotte Badarello, said: “Once again, our students have demonstrated remarkable maturity and resilience to successfully overcome the challenges of the last two years and achieve results that they should be very proud of.
“I would like to congratulate the students and of course the staff who have supported them on this journey. I feel privileged to have been able to see them become young adults and the school community looks forward to welcoming many of them in to our successful Sixth Form.”
The Willink School, Burghfield Common
The Willink School is pleased to announce the following GCSE examination results.
In particular, the school wishes to recognise the following Year 11 pupils who achieved at least seven GCSE grades nine to seven: Demetrius, Holly, Faith, Hannah, Edison, Jack, Ethan, Maya, Hayden, Charlie, Harvey, Evan, Eve, Leila, Jack, Charlie, Sophie, Ella, Max, Charlie, Jordan, Krisztina, Solomon, Finley, Tom, Ethan, Maryam, Amelia and Josh.
“We send our congratulations to students who have so worked hard, their success is justly rewarded,” said headteacher, Peter Fry.
“Grades overall were down on the last two years in line with national figures but stacked up well against the high watermark of 2019.
“My thanks to teachers and support staff who have championed this cohort through their exam years.”
09.15 am
The Downs School, Compton
A sea of smiling faces filled Downs School this morning as Year 11 pupils arrived to collect their GCSE results.
Year 11 pupil, Noah, is staying on to study Geography, Politics and Sociology in A-Levels.
Speaking about his GCSE grades, he said: "I think I did very well. I got better than I hoped for.”
Year 11 pupil, Hannah, added: "I'm really happy. Some of them I got better and some of them was under what I was expecting, but overall I'm happy.”
She is planning to study Music, English Literature, English Language and Psychology in A-Levels, and is eventually looking to study Music at a conservatoire.
Year 11 pupil, Nicholas, is also happy with his grades and will be studying Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Philosophy in A-Levels.
"I thought I did quite well. I was quite impressed,” said Year 11 pupil Sacha, who is planning to study Economics, Maths, Further Maths and Philosophy in A-Levels.
Headteacher, Chris Prosser, spoke about the day’s success.
"We've had really strong results. In some respects, better than last year,” he said.
“The smiles are the important thing. I think sometimes with our students, they've got such high aspirations, that even if they get an eight instead of a nine, they wanted more. But that says it all for us really.
“Building on last week's success as well, we were top in West Berkshire, hopefully that'll be the same this year."
Over 200 pupils are staying on at the school to study their A-Levels, the highest number in a long time, says Mr Prosser
10.17 am
Kennet School, Thatcham
Kennet School is celebrating results that it says are significantly higher than that of 2019.
The percentage of pupils passing English and Maths is 70.4 per cent.
And 94 per cent of pupils achieved 5+ passes across the board.
The school also celebrated the performance in the top range of results, with 26 per cent of all grades being grade 9 – grade 7.
A special mention has been made to Aditya Hirey who achieved an outstanding ten 9s, Abbie Brown who achieved nine 9s and a 7.
Lucy Farmer and Sophia Tayton both achieved eight 9s and two 8s and both McDylan Philippe-Ekitti and Eleanor Prescott achieved seven 9s and three 8s.
There was an impressive number of high-level grades of grade7 - grade 9, in Biology, Chemistry, Food, Music, Photography, and Physics.
“Hard work pays off,” said Lucy Farmer who achieved eight 9s and two 8s.
“I am feeling really good with my results.
“I was worried before because in the news it said the grade boundaries were really high.
“But now I am so relieved.
“I want to stay on for sixth form and study English literature, drama and history.
“I want to go to university too and I might want to do journalism.”
McDylan Philippe-Ekitti said that in Year 10 he could feel the impact of studying in lockdown in Year 8 and Year 9.
“It didn’t hit until Year 10 where I realized how hard it was.
“You had to knuckle down and put in the hard work to get the rewards.”
He added: “I am shocked.
“I did not expect to do this well.
“In my mocks I did not do too great and I felt a bit down.
“But in the end, I did it. I called my dad and he started screaming.
“I want to go and hug my parents and go out with my friends.”
McDylan is keen to study maths, economics and French at A-Levels. “I already speak a little bit of French,” he said.
“I want to go on to study economics at a top university.”
Thomas Frewing said that of all the emotions he is feeling, relief has come top.
“My family are really pleased with me, my mum is just outside.
“I feel great, relieved more than anything.
“I am going to go to a friend’s house today for a barbeque.”
Abbie Brown said she shed happy tears when she found out she had achieved nine 9s and a 7.
She said: “I was very stressed this morning but I am really happy.
“I called my mum and both of us were in tears.
“It has all paid off.”
Today was a sigh of relief for Lily Hopwood who achieved five 9s and five 8s.
“I was confident that I would do ok,” she said. “But I was really surprised with the results that I got.
“I had been talking to my parents about it and counting down the days.
“This morning I was a bit nervous and wondered what if they mark me down?
“My parents were tearing up.”
10.23am
John O’Gaunt School, Hungerford
SOME pupils achieved a 'clean sweep' of Grades 7 to 9 in all of their subjects.
Headteacher Richard Hawthorne said: “This cohort of students faced the same challenges and disruption as previous Year 11 cohorts in terms of the pandemic but undertook their exams under similar conditions to students who took their exams in 2019.
"Perhaps the individual successes we’re seeing are even more impressive in light of this.
“A number of students made exceptional progress against their starting points and some overcame personal challenges to achieve success.
"I commend the courage and determination of all of our students.”
In a year when it has been widely reported that grade boundaries have been tightened, and that the number of top grades would be reduced, the small cohort of 66 students at JOG achieved more than 40 grades in this category.
Three pupils achieved Grades 7 to 9 in all of their subjects.
Mr Hawthorne added: “These results show what JOG students are capable of achieving and as ever, there are many other stories of progress and attainment across the cohort.
"They should all be so proud of their effort and individual achievements.
“None of the success stories would have been possible without the dedication of our staff, the support of their families and of course, the fortitude of our students.
“Whatever their next steps, we wish each and every one of our students all our very best for the future.”
Chairman of the governors, Chris Waldon, said: “The dedication of the John O’Gaunt staff is incredible as they tirelessly strive to provide the highest quality teaching and support for all students, ensuring they have every chance to excel.
"I'm truly amazed by their unwavering commitment to our students, and I feel honoured to collaborate with them, Excalibur Academies Trust, and my fellow governors in our shared mission to support the students at the school.”
11.13am St Bart’s School, Newbury
There are celebrations in the halls, corridors and classrooms at St Bart's this morning as Year 11 students collect their GCSE results.
A record figure of over 85 per cent of all GCSE results were at grade 4 or higher, while well over a third of all grades were at grade 7 or higher.
An incredible 84 per cent of students gained at least a grade 4 in both English and Maths, ensuring that they can smoothly progress to further study, with any number of exciting options available to them in the future.
A total of 60 students achieved at least eight GCSEs at grade 7 or higher.
Erin Clark, Aayush Joshi, Vaibavi Lakshmi Narayanan, Charlotte Lethaby, Adria Rumbauskaite, Annabel Maclean, Imogen Ciochon, Dananyal Begg and Ben Wigmore achieved a remarkable total of 95 grade 9s between them.
Most importantly, initial analysis suggests that progress made by all students, from Year 7 right through to Year 11, is once again extremely high.
Headteacher Dr. David Fitter was delighted with how this group of students had developed while at St Bart's, culminating in another set of hugely impressive results.
He said: "This cohort deserves to be immensely proud of their achievements.
"They have been a fantastic group of students, who have shown amazing stamina and resilience following the disruption of the last few years.
"The hard work and dedication of the students, supported by their parents and teachers, has paid dividends.
"Their successes lie not just in their academic progress, but also in the way in which they have been a real asset to the school as a whole, acting as excellent role models who have made a really positive contribution to the wider school community.
"The vast majority of these students will be joined by a record number from other schools in starting their sixth form studies here in two weeks time and we wish all our students the very best as they move on to the next stage of their lives."
A number of the successful students took a break from their celebrations to tell us about their results.
Sohaib Alam was thrilled with his impressive results, is looking forward to starting his A-Levels and even surprised himself with his grade in English.
"English was the biggest surprise for me," he said.
"I was expecting 7s or 8s but I got 9s in both of them, I wasn't expecting it.
"I was expecting the grade boundaries to be approximately level with 2019's, but it's actually much higher, so it feels like an excellent achievement.
"I wasn't too nervous until I was about to open the results.
"I wanted my hard work to be worth it but I wasn't losing sleep over it, because once I'd done the exams it was out of my hands.
"I'm going to do further maths, maths, physics and computer science at A-Level.
"I don't have any concrete plans to celebrate, but I'm looking forward to a nice meal."
A beaming Aayush Joshi, who had his extremely proud mum and dad with him to collect his results, achieved top grades across the board.
"I'm feeling very good, very excited," he said.
"There were a few surprises, I was expecting two 7s in English literature and language, but I managed to get a 9.
"I was confident for the most part, but there were a few subjects I was a bit unsure on, thankfully it turned out brilliantly.
"I'll be doing A-Levels here at St Bart's, I'm studying maths, further maths, physics and computer science.
"I'm planning to do mathematics or maths with computer science at university.
"I'm not too sure about careers just yet but I'm just going to go with what I think is best for me.
"We're going to go out for a family dinner tonight, I'm really looking forward to it."
Milla Brereton, who also had an overjoyed mum and dad in attendance, is hoping her fantastic results will help her achieve her dream of becoming an outdoor pursuits instructor – but won't have time to celebrate until after a busy few days climbing and kayaking.
She said: "I studied drama, textiles and BTEC enterprise on top of all the basics.
"I'm really happy, so pleased.
"I got a 7 in maths which I really wasn't expecting, that was a nice surprise.
"I was really nervous, I couldn't sleep last night I was so scared.
"I'm going on to Sparsholt College to do outdoor adventure.
"I want to be an outdoor pursuits instructor, it's something I've wanted to do for about a year-and-a-half now since I got into the sports.
"I'm looking forward to going out for a family meal."
A delighted dad added: "We'll definitely be celebrating, when we can fit it in!"
11.27AM
Trinity School
PUPILS are celebrating an "excellent" set of results.
Heateacher Charlotte Wilson said: We're as delighted with our GCSE results as we are with our A level results.
"Our Year 11 students have worked hard with the support of our staff and have been rewarded with an excellent set of results.
"Some notable subject performances for percentage of 9-4 grades are: biology, chemistry, dance, child care, sport and catering are all achieving 100 per cent; physics (98 per cent); statistics (94 per cent); photography (87 per cent); music (85 per cent), drama and German (81 per cent)."
Subjects achieving the highest grades at 7-9 were: dance (55 per cent); biology (47 per cent); statistics (44 per cent); chemistry (43 per cent) and physics (41 per cent).
Ms Wilson added: "We're thrilled that two thirds of our students are returning to Trinity in September to continue their educational journey at a sixth form which consistently delivers strong results in all subjects.
"We're confident they will be the leaders of the future and with the excellent qualifications, skills and qualities they have already gained they are in the best place to do this."
Felicity Johnson-Booth (see table) said she was leaving her future options open.
She said: "Science is what I'm good at - but I really enjoy art.
"So I'm going to decide after sixth form."
Margarida Carvalho (see table) said: "After I leave sixth form I want to go to drama school to pursue an acting career."
Lottie Green (see table) said she aims to study chemistry, while Lewis Ching wants to study English literature, psychology and drama.
Zara Kelly achieved four 8 grades and two 7s.
She wants to study dance, psychology, biology and history at sixth form.
Hannah Biddulph (see table) is leaving her options open but is considering a teaching career.
Meanwhile she's going to study history, religious studies, drama and English literature.
1.13pm
Park House School
Students at Park House School achieved the best GCSE results in the school’s history this year.
In Maths, 81 per cent of students achieved a 4 or above which is a 7 per cent increase on last year’s results.
There was a similar outcome in English, with the percentage of students attaining a 5 or above jumping from 54 to 63.
Headteacher James King said: “I am absolutely thrilled with these well-deserved GCSE results.
“The hard work from students and staff, along with the support from their families has made this momentous achievement possible.
“I am so very proud that the school has increased outcomes in all areas of attainment and progress, in a year when grades are falling nationally back to pre-covid levels.
“I have loved working with this cohort, they have taken to the changes at the school superbly and absolutely excelled in their exams. I wish them the very best of luck for their futures.”
Sam White, who attained an impressive seven 9s and four 8s in his GCSEs, said: “I’m feeling very relieved after quite a few worried nights, but I feel good now.
“I was very worried about all the grade boundary talk on TikTok and Instagram. It’s a big relief now.”
He was particularly proud of getting all 9s in maths and science, and next year he will be studying biology, chemistry and maths at St Barts.
He hopes to study medicine at university. “This will give me the platform to go hopefully”, he said.
He will be celebrating with friends at a barbecue tonight, and he is attending Reading Festival at the weekend.
Charlotte English said: “I’m very happy with my results.”
She attained a 9 in both maths and media, two grades she was particularly proud of.
She is off to St Barts to study further maths, physics and psychology and is hoping to become an engineer.
Sam Dennis was “really happy” with his results. He said: “I was a bit conscious about not getting a 9 in maths but I did.”
He was also particularly pleased with his English grades. He continued: “Ever since year 7 English literature has always been a worry for me and then my teacher Mr Gook really helped me in year 11 to get a 9 in literature and a 7 in language.”
He is going on to study maths, chemistry and biology at St Barts and he isn’t sure what he wants to study at university yet, but he is considering medicine.
He went and had breakfast at Bill’s to celebrate, and he will be going to Reading Festival with his friends as well.
Ingel Nemvalts said: “I feel very excited. I did really well in maths and I just got everything I wanted to get.”
Ingel will be going to Queen Mary’s College in Basingstoke and studying sociology, art and drama and will be going into town to watch a move with her friends later today to celebrate.
Deputy head Camilla Douglas said: “What a mountain we have climbed together this year.
“I am so thrilled that our students are now equipped with the knowledge and skills they need to tackle the next chapter of their lives successfully.
“We can’t wait to welcome them back into sixth form and continue to support them to further success.”
The school wanted to make a special mention of some of their highest achievers. Maya Marzetti, Charlotte Brown, Sam Dennis, Charlotte English, Sam White and Evie Prosser all achieved 9s in a number of subjects.
Immy Connington, Eva Maughan, Rohan Miah, Theo Stewart and Mair Williams also made exceptional progress this year and attained some fantastic grades as well.
1.45pm
The Hurst School
The Hurst School was “delighted” to report that the English and maths grades achieved by its students were higher than those attained in 2019.
The Hurst had a 5 per cent increase of its students attaining a 5 or above in English or maths when compared to pre-pandemic results.
Compared to last year’s results, the school improved its passes in these core subjects at every level by 2 per cent, and 12.5 per cent of this year’s year 11 cohort achieved grades of 7 and above in them as well.
Top performers included Callum Barbour with five Grade 9s and Brooke Ward and Ben Treble with four Grade 9s.
Callum said: “I am feeling pretty relaxed now and am going out with friends later.
“I am going to go to Peter Symonds College and will study maths, further maths, physics and chemistry.”
Brooke added: “I was so nervous this morning but am very happy now.
“I am going to study maths, biology and chemistry at A Level and French at AS Level at college and will spend this afternoon with my friends.”
Headteacher Jayne McLaren said: “I am delighted with student progress this year, and how students have got better grades in English and maths, despite the national picture rolling back the grade boundaries this year.
“I would like to congratulate all our students who worked incredibly hard this year and wish them well for the future. I would also like to thank our teaching staff for all their efforts.”
2.28pm
Little Heath School, Tilehurst
Little Heath School is celebrating its ‘outstanding results’ despite the challenges brought on by ‘lockdown, remote teaching and widespread disruption’.
Head teacher David Ramsden said: “I am proud of the results that students from the class of 2023 have achieved.
“The year group have worked hard and have supported one another through the past five years, with a collaborative and ambitious mindset throughout.
“It is important to acknowledge the extraordinary challenges that this cohort has overcome, including three national lockdowns with remote teaching, and further widespread disruption to learning since they started secondary school in 2018.
“Despite these challenges, there have been many outstanding individual results, and some students have been truly inspirational with their consistently outstanding attitude and progress since Year 7.”
He added: “We are excited to see where these results take them into the future, and are delighted that so many have chosen to remain on to our excellent sixth form.
“Today’s results are a celebration of five years of hard work from an exceptional group of students.”
3.05pm
The Clere School
The Clere School was delighted with today’s GCSE results after its students achieved a strong set of grades in English and maths.
Grades across the board were also above and beyond mock examination grades and staff predictions.
Top student performers included Oscar Thompson, Rhys Perrett, James Ayton, Poldark Bates and Adrian Lemanczyk.
Oscar Thompson said he got about what he expected in his GCSE results. He was particularly proud of the 8 he got in additional maths.
He will be going to Peter Symonds College next year to study maths, further maths, physics and computer science and he hopes to start a career in the RAF.
Unfortunately he had to put his celebrations on hold as he had a dentist’s appointment to go to.
Shelley Slatter said: “I’m very glad with my results. It means that I can get into the course I want for college. I’m going to Andover College to do a nursing course.
“I’m especially proud of my art which I didn’t think was going to go well but it did. I got a 5.”
Ollie Castelli said he was “really happy” with his results, particularly passing his maths and English exams.
“I definitely didn’t think I was going to pass,” he said. He is going to study law, criminology and PE at Queen’s Mary College.
James Ayton said: “I was nervous, and I don’t know if I’ve processed it yet.”
He was surprised he got an 8 in history, but he thought his results were only “alright”.
He is thinking of going to college to study maths, history and psychology, and he is going to Reading Festival to celebrate.
Assistant headteacher Adrian Deasy said: “We are really proud of the students and how they have performed in their exams.
“They have improved throughout the course of the year and the outcomes have given us real confidence for them moving forward to their college places.
“They’ve worked really hard for their examinations and seeing them today, they are leaving school feeling really proud of themselves and knowing that they’ve got the qualifications they need for the next steps in their journey so we wish them the best of luck with all of that.”
3.50pm
St Gabriel’s School
After considerable successes in their A-Level results, St Gabriel’s School were equally proud with the achievements of its year 11 students in their GCSE exams.
The school was “delighted” to announce that 36 per cent of all its GCSE grades were 7 or above, with over 73 per cent of all grades in science being an 8 or 9.
Sareena achieved nine 9s and three 8s in her GCSEs. She said: “I’m feeling really good. I’m really glad that the hard work paid off and it’s over now and I can relax.
She was particularly happy with her further maths grad, as she didn’t think she’d do that well.
She’s going on to study chemistry, biology and history at A-Level and she is considering studying medicine at university.
Josie, who attained five 9s, four 8s and three 7s, said: “I’m really happy. I’m just glad that all my hard work actually paid off.”
She was very pleased that she got all 9 grades in science. She will be studying biology, chemistry and history in the sixth form.
She hopes to go on and study medicine at university and she will be going to a pool party with her friends to celebrate.
Libby was “elated” with her results. “I’m really happy with what I got,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting my results so I’m really happy.”
She was particularly proud of her 8 in Spanish. She is planning on studying Spanish, psychology and English language at the sixth form.
To celebrate, she was planning on going shopping.
Tilly was feeling “very happy” with her results. She said: “I wasn’t expecting them really”.
She said that all of her hard work had paid off and that all her teachers had been very supportive. She was particularly happy with achieving a 7 in drama.
Her friend Grace was feeling very good about her grades. “I wasn’t really expecting what I was going to get”, she said.
“I got a 9 in German and I am really happy with that.”
Both Grace and Tilly had surpassed their own expectations, and the pair are going to Reading Festival together to celebrate. They are particularly excited to see The Killers.
St Gabriel’s principal Ricki Smith said: “This is a year that has shown their ability to endure stoically, prosper, and flourish, when things have been tough throughout.
“Their resilience and sense of fun has been a lesson to us all. As ever, this year will be remembered for many reasons.
“However, it is the educational growth and level of achievement shown by these St Gabriel’s pupils, and the professionalism and care shown by our outstanding staff, coupled with the support of parents that will be the abiding memory.”
4.16pm
Pangbourne College
Pangbourne College was pleased to announce its GCSE results for 2023 after 93 per cent of student grades were passes.
The college was also delighted with the fact that 76 per cent of all grade awarded were between 9 and 5, one of the college’s highest-performing sets of results in recent years.
Deputy head academic Mark Seccombe said: “Once again, I am delighted for our pupils receiving their GCSE results today after all their hard work and commitment over the past two years.
“Despite the return to pre-covid grade boundaries, our pupils have delivered an excellent set of results, and some particularly impressive individual achievements.
“I am proud of them all and look forward to welcoming many of them back in September to start their sixth form journey at Pangbourne.”
Pangbourne pupil Frederick Stokes received eight 9s and two 8s. He also received 9 in French, an exam he took took a year early.
He said: “I’m really happy. I got even better than I expected. I will be returning to Pangbourne for sixth form to study maths, further maths, physics, French, and an EPQ.”
Fellow student Amy Perrott also achieved some impressive results, attaining four 9s and five 8s. Amy plans to study maths, psychology and economics at Pangbourne sixth form.
Head of key stage 3 Stephanie Poynter said: “I am so impressed with what our pupils have achieved, and they should be incredibly proud of themselves.
“Both their resilience and the way that they have applied themselves to their studies over the last two years has certainly been worth it in the end. We wish them all the best for their sixth form studies.”
Downe House School, Cold Ash
Downe House School in Cold Ash is celebrating a strong set of GCSE results.
Just under three quarters of its pupils achieved 7 or more 9 - 7 grades.
Amongst them, five girls with 10 or more grades at the very highest level.
In addition to success in the core subjects, the school says it is delighted to have seen impressive results across the curriculum with many faculties achieving high 9 - 7 grades.
This includes science at 87 per cent, languages at 86 per cent, creative arts at 83 per cent and performing arts at 94 per cent.
An unprecedented number of new students have chosen to join Downe House for their A-level studies in September and will join the girls who have chosen to stay at the school.
Head teacher Emma McKendrick said: “A heartfelt congratulations to the GCSE class of 2023.
“They have every reason to be proud of the excellent results they have achieved with many personal triumphs evident.
“I am very much looking forward to seeing this terrific group flourish further in the sixth form, building on their many successes.”
