THE added pressure of tougher exams didn’t deter Farnham students as they gleefully collected their GCSE results on Thursday morning.

This year see the introduction of a new system of grading with the old A* to G grades being replaced by a 9 to 1 system (with 9 being the highest), initially just in English and Mathematics.

Nationally, results have dropped overall across a number of subjects, with the number of students attaining an A, or ’7’ under the new system, drop by 0.5 per cent to 20 per cent, and those achieving a C or above, ’4’ under the new system, has dropped by 0.6 per cent to 66.3 per cent.

However, Farnham’s schools have once again bucked the trend.

Farnham Heath End School is thrilled with their preliminary GCSE results. In maths, students exceeded the national pass rate by 15 per cent with 74 per cent achieving a grade 4 or better. And 10 students achieved the top grade (grade 9) which is double the reported national average.

In English, the number of students achieving the grade 7+ (formally A* to A grade) is above the national average, as is the percentage passing overall, with 58 per cent of students achieved a pass grade (4+) in both of the new GCSE English and maths examinations.

Up the road, students at All Hallows Catholic School have achieved record breaking results, with 83 per cent of students achieving five A* to C or 9 to 4 grades including both English and maths, with 38 per cent of all grades being A* to A or 9 to 7.

At Weydon School 85 per cent of students achieved a grade 4 or above in the new style English and mathematics GCSE with 68 per cent achieving a strong pass. Forty-four grade 9’s were achieved by the year group and 15 Weydon students were on “Cloud Nine” gaining grade 9s in one or more of the three new GCSEs.

Seventy-three per cent of pupils at the specialist More House School in Frensham achieved grades A* to C, equivalent pass rate in their GCSE and BTEC-equivalent courses, which surpasses the reported national average.

Ninety-nine per cent of GCSE and equivalent BTEC courses taken by the pupils were awarded passes, and 54 per cent of pupils secured at least five GCSE and equivalent passes at grade C or higher, and including GCSE English and GCSE mathematics.

Over in Frensham, pupils at Frensham Heights have secured first-class results, with over 25 per cent of exams in these subjects securing grade 7 and above. Seven per cent of these were awarded grade 9, a result that media reports indicate will be awarded to just two to three per cent of students nationally.

Overall, 93 per cent of students were awarded grade 4 and above, closely equivalent to the previous grade C and above.

See next week’s Herald for more results and photographs of Farnham’s triumphant Class of 2017.