News & Headteacher Blogs

The Downs School celebrates another exceptional year of GCSE results

On Thursday, 22 August 210 Year 11 students received their GCSE results after a long summer of waiting. Their tutors and teachers were there to congratulate them all on their results.  

Chris Prosser (Headteacher) said, ‘After the fantastic A Level results last week, I am incredibly proud of the results our amazing Year Eleven students have achieved in their GCSEs and BTEC exams. This Year Group faced many challenges during the COVID years so these excellent results are testament to their resilience, willingness to support one another, and ambition to succeed. I would like to thank my dedicated and talented staff and our students’ incredibly supportive parents, without whom these achievements would not have been possible.’ 

‘More of our students than ever before will be staying with us in our Sixth Form, which is really pleasing. Whether they are staying with us or moving on to other opportunities, I would like to wish our Year Eleven students the very best of luck for the future, and look forward to hearing about their successes.’ 

What grades did our students achieve? 

·    Of the 207 students who took exams in Year 11, 94% achieved pass grades (4 and above) in English and 84% achieved pass grades (4 and above) in Maths

·    Students across the range of abilities made exceptional progress:

o   Of all the GCSE entries, 13% were graded at 9-8

o   26% of entries were graded at 9-7 

o   60% of entries were graded at 9-5 (strong pass and above) 

o   77% of entries were graded at 9-4 grades (standard pass and above) 

·   Our students taking vocational courses did extremely well, with 19% of entries achieving Distinction or Distinction * (equivalent to the highest GCSE grades)