Firth Park Academy in Sheffield celebrates GCSE results
Students at Firth Park Academy are today celebrating their long-awaited GCSE results, having faced months away from school, a period that they never could have imagined would see their last year at school curtailed and their exams cancelled.
But their hard work in the run up to lockdown hasn’t been for nothing. Following the Government’s announcement on Monday 17 August, the grades that teachers submitted for each student are now being awarded. Today they have received grades which reflect the effort they put in over the course of their time in education, as judged by their school. These will formally be confirmed by exam boards next week.
In a very small number of cases where the calculated grade is higher than the grades submitted by teachers, the calculated grade will stand.
Teachers and leaders at Firth Park Academy have worked extremely hard to make sure that the grading for every student is fair and allows these students to go onto further education, employment or training – whatever is the best option for them.
This year the following students did particularly well and will go on to pursue a number of exciting post-16 paths:
Three students, Abaseno Ekong, Tiffany Kibutu and Destiny Ehimwenma have secured scholarships to study at Birkdale School. Abaseno and Destiny made the most progress of any students in the academy, showing that hard work results in remarkable success.
Josh Saunders plans to study A Levels in biology, chemistry, English literature and psychology at Notre Dame in order to pursue a career in medicine.
Amy Barker plans to pursue a career in teaching, by studying A-Levels in history, psychology and sociology at Tapton.
Iqrah Naz also wants to pursue a career in medicine and will be studying biology, chemistry and psychology A-Levels at King Edward VII.
Overall, Firth Park Academy has seen a marked improvement in their English and mathematics combined GCSE results this year of 14% points improvement at Grade 9-4. In Religious Studies and Art, students did particularly well, with 79% and 73% respectively achieving Grade 4 and above. A grade 4 represents a standard pass.
Since 2018, a new grading system has been in place, with grades 9 – 1 replacing the old A* - G grades. Under the new system a Grade 7 equates to an A while 4 reads across to a C. The new grade 9 was designed to reward a very small number of the exceptionally brightest and best GCSE students across the country.
At Firth Park Academy, the following students secured the top grades:
Josh Saunders: 7 grade 9s, 1 grade 8, 1 grade 7
Abubakar Younis: 5 grade 9s, 4 grade 8s
Mariam Pervaiz: 4 grade 9s, 4 grade 8s, 1 grade 7
Bradley Cartwright 2 grade 9s, 7 grade 8s
Ahmed Obaid: 4 grade 9s, 3 grade 8s, 2 grade 7s
Dean Jones, Headteacher of Firth Park Academy, part of Academies Enterprise Trust, said:
“I am delighted for our students and I am so proud of the incredible effort they have put in during their time at Firth Park. Even though our students were not able to take their final exams, their results today show the hard work they have put in during their time at school and are a fair reflection of the commitment they show every day.
He continued:
Schools Minister, Baroness Berridge said:
“I know that this has not been an easy year for young people across Sheffield but it is wonderful to see students from Firth Park receiving their well-deserved results. These will enable them to take their talents to the next level, whether that’s A levels, our brand new T Levels or another high quality vocational option.
“I also want to recognise the hard work of all the teachers and staff at Firth Park Academy, as well as across the country, for going above and beyond for all their students in recent months – the entire nation is grateful for your efforts.”