STAFF and students at Mill Chase Academy were in a celebratory mood last week as its GCSE results once again improved.

Though pupils who started their GCSEs in September 2015 faced a new model introduced by the government with “more demanding content” and alterations to mathematics, English language and English literature, the academy’s achieved better outcomes for the fourth year in a row.

The Department for Education also introduced a completely new method of grading for these subjects, with the traditional A* to G grades replaced with a one to nine scoring system – nine being the top mark. Remaining subjects will also move to this new model in coming years.

To put it into perspective, this year the new grade four is comparable to a C grade from last year, and a Grade 7 represents an A grade.

While the reception has been mixed, the changes haven’t dented Mill Chase Academy’s trend of improvement.

Against a decline in grades achieved nationally, at Bordon’s secondary school there was a “significant increase” in English and mathematics performance, with 66 per cent of students achieving a grade four or above in both subjects – an increase of 10 per cent on last year’s equivalent grade C pass.

In English, there was an increase of 16 per cent with 70 per cent of students achieving a grade four (C) or above.

And in mathematics, 78 per cent of students achieved a grade four or above, “well above the national average”. This is an increase of three per cent on last year’s mathematics result which saw the department placed in the “top six per cent of schools in the country”.

“These excellent results are testament to the talented and committed teachers that we have at Mill Chase who work in excellent partnership with supportive parents and hard working students at our school,” Mr Hemmings said.

“Once again our ethos of high expectation and aspiration that is firmly established at Mill Chase is demonstrated with our continued examination success.”

He went on to highlight praise the school has received from Ofsted. When inspectors visited Mill Chase Academy last autumn, they reported that “senior leaders have established an ethos of high expectation and aspiration which is central to the life of the school”.

The report added: “Teachers are passionate about doing their best for the pupils they teach and pupils are making increasingly good progress and standards are rising because of improvements to

teaching.”

In its first inspection as an academy, the school was judged to be “good” in all areas. But Mr Hemmings is determined to ensure that, when inspectors visit again, the school moves up the ranks to be crowned “Outstanding”.

“As I have said many times before, one of the most important roles I have as principal is to ensure that the very best teachers remain at the academy whilst appointing high-quality, talented staff,” Mr Hemmings added.

“Last term, I made several excellent appointments to our teaching team, all of whom will join us at the start of September. This will strengthen the school even further.

“I am therefore very excited about the new academic year ahead as we work to provide an outstanding education for the young people of Whitehill and Bordon.”

Nationally, GCSE passes have dropped slightly across the range of subjects, with some more significant changes in the reformed subjects.

The proportion of students scoring a C or above, or a four under the new grading system, dropped 0.6 percentage points to 66.3 per cent.

In England, the English literature pass rate fell 2.2 per cent to 72.4 per cent.

In maths it dropped from 71.4 to 70.7 per cent.