CELEBRATING with tears of joy and laughter, Bohunt students have soared above the national average across the board – with three times as many top grade nine GCSEs achieved.

An incredible 80 per cent of students at the school achieved a grade four or better in English and maths – with a four the new grade set by the Government as a ‘pass’ in the more challenging exams.

With strengths across the board, results in English and maths were particularly impressive, with 86 per cent of students achieving at least a grade four in English, which is well above the national average, and more than two thirds of students achieving a grade five or higher -  defined by the Government as a ‘strong pass’ or better.

There was also real success in maths, with 88 per cent of students achieving a grade four or higher – again, well above the national average – and almost 70 per cent of students achieving a grade five or above.

An astonishing eight per cent of students achieved a grade nine in maths, which is the highest grade attainable under the new system, and broadly equals a very high A*.

The proportion of top marks per students at Bohunt School was also approximately three times the national rate.

In total, there were:–

l15 grade nines in English language

l16 grade nines in English literature

l25 grade nines in maths

Other subject areas that produced great success, with almost all students achieving at least a C or above, were statistics (100 per cent), biology (98 per cent), physics (97 per cent), chemistry (96 per cent) and photography (94 per cent).

Bohunt also celebrated the high number of students achieving the European Baccalaureate (EBacc), which is the set of key academic subjects universities and employers are most impressed by – with almost half the students who entered achieving it.

That was a remarkable result given that the pass grades for the EBacc have been increased for English and maths.

Bohunt head Neil Stowger told The Herald: “We are incredibly proud of the excellent results that have been achieved, which are a testament to the dedication, effort and hard work of our students and staff.

“At Bohunt, we are committed to ensuring the achievement of every student, and we are delighted our year 11 students have achieved the brilliant results they deserve.

“It is an especially exciting year for all of us, as many of this year’s cohort will be continuing their studies with us, at our brand new sixth form which officially opens in September.

“We look forward to watching these students continue their educational journey with us to achieve further success.”

There were some outstanding individual success stories with three students achieving ‘nines’ in all three subjects (English language, English literature and maths) – three of only 2,000 students in the entire country who did so.

Many of the pupils will be going on to study at the new sixth form, which opens its doors for the first time on Monday, September 4 – although the official opening ceremony will take place in October.

The sixth form will see the innovative educational offering already in place at Bohunt Education Trust’s (BET) secondary schools continue through, while also providing adaptive pastoral and academic support.

Existing teachers and new staff specifically employed for the new year groups will support students to attain highly and achieve widely.

Bohunt is rated ‘outstanding’ in every category by Ofsted, and inspectors in the latest report praised the way in which GCSE results across almost every subject are “much higher than those seen nationally”.

The report also recognised how much students enjoy learning, and that they “appreciate and thrive on the carefully tailored and inspirational opportunities that the school provides”. 

The results reflect another strong year of GCSEs achieved across Bohunt Education Trust, including at TPS (in Petersfield), where 79 per cent of students gained a grade four or better in English and in maths, well above the national average.