GCSE results above average (From Penarth Times)

GCSE results above average

PENARTH pupils are celebrating today after scooping yet another excellent set of GCSE results.

Figures show that local schools have once again produced outstanding General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) results in 2002.

Local pupils in the Vale, performed better than the Welsh average for grades A/A* and A*- C, with almost 1 in every 5 of GCSE exam entries resulting in an A* or A grade, whilst nearly 62% gained an A*- C pass.

Local schools have also managed to maintain high A*- G grade passes at nearly 98%.

Councillor Jeffrey James, Leader of the Vale of Glamorgan Council said: 'These results clearly demonstrate that pupils in the Vale are well served by Vale of Glamorgan Schools. I am pleased to offer my personal congratulations to pupils and also to the teaching staff across the Vale of Glamorgan for these excellent results'.

This year's figures from the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC), show that the overall pass rate in Wales for grades A*-G is 97.9%. This represents a 0.1% decrease on the corresponding figure for 2001.

However, the percentage of pupils achieving grades A*- C is 60.4%, which is a 0.5% increase on last year.

Candidates achieving the top grade A* is now 5.8%, which is 0.2% up on 2001, and the percentage gaining grades A and A* has reached 17.6%, a 0.7% increase compared with last year's figures.

At all grades females continue to perform better than males.

The results show that the percentage of females achieving Grades A*- C is 65.7%, where as the percentage of males achieving the same grades is now 54.9%. Chief Executive of WJEC, Wyn Roberts said: 'The results this year reflect the continuing hard work of students and teachers within a stable and well-established qualification.'