PUPILS from Penarth secondary schools celebrated some of the best-ever GCSE results this year.

Stanwell School saw an increase in pupil’s performances, with 42 per cent of students gaining five or more A* to A grades, which was said to be the “best ever” results for the school.

As well as many top grades, 99 per cent of pupils achieving the skills challenge certificate in the Welsh Baccalaureate and 94 per cent achieved this at national level.

The proportion of A* grades awarded this year was 15 per cent and more than 1160 entries were graded A* or A, which equates to 37 per cent of all results. 63 per cent of all entries were A* to B and a 86 per cent of all examinations taken were graded A* to C. 65 pupils achieved 10 A grades or better and 18 pupils were awarded 10 A* grades or more.

Pupils who gained the top grades were Sophie Anderton, Arianne Banks, Enyala Banks, Rowan Higgins and Laura MacLeod, who all received 14 A* grades & one A grade. Included in the top grades were twins Arianne and Enyala Banks, who both matched each other’s results. The sisters achieved 14 A* grades and a distinction in additional mathematics each.

Year 11 tutor, Amy Bates, said “It is a delight to see the hard work of the pupils and support given by parents and staff being rewarded with so many students achieving their potential and obtaining high grades. The Key Stage 4 pastoral team have enjoyed working with this year group and wish them all continued success in the future.”

Assistant head teacher, James Mansfield said he was especially pleased to see large numbers of pupils achieving the required grades to follow their chosen subjects in the sixth form.

He said: “Pupils worked with diligence and commitment in the lead up to the examinations and the excellent results are well deserved.”

At St Cyres School, the achievements were similar, with students achieving the “highest-ever results for the school”.

Head teacher Dr Jonathan Hicks said: “This week our Year 11 pupils have once again achieved record results in their GCSEs.”

The school’s Level 2 Plus - which are pupils who achieve at least five GCSE passes, including English Language, Maths or Numeracy - rose from 42 per cent from last year to 62 per cent this year. As well as this, 17 per cent of pupils achieved five or more A* to A grades - which Dr Hicks said is again the “highest-ever figure for the school”.

He said: “This is truly phenomenal and represents the highest figure in the school’s history under the new school performance measures. I should like to pass on my warmest congratulations to all of our pupils and to publicly thank our tremendously committed and skilled staff for all their hard work this year.

“These two wonderful sets of results, plus our recent excellent Key Stage 3 results, all show that St Cyres School is providing an excellent education for local children.

“We are proud to serve the local community in our superb building and grounds, and will be endeavouring to achieve even greater success in 2019.”

Speaking about GCSE results across the Vale, Cllr Bob Penrose, Vale of Glamorgan Council cabinet member for learning and culture, said: “Vale schools have once more shone when it comes to examination performance and everyone involved should be immensely proud of their achievements.

“Coupled with last week’s A Level success, this has been a hugely successful summer for the County’s educational staff and pupils and I’d like to pass on my sincere congratulations to you all.

“Such strong GCSE results indicate there are a large number of Vale pupils with extremely bright futures in front of them and I wish you all every success as you embark on the next step of that journey.”