The British School of Brussels, A Level results day


despite concerns about the levels of difficulty of the new exams and the change in grading systems. Girls are leading the charge in GCSE performance. They


outperformed boys in several subjects, including Biology and Chemistry, as well as English Language and English Literature. 2019 saw a significant rise in female entries in Computing, in which girls continue to outperform boys. Boys managed to achieve more top grades in both Mathematics and Physics than girls, but the fairer sex is closing the performance gap. Overall, there was an increase in entries in the sciences and


Maths. This could be due to STEM subjects – Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics – being firmly on the agenda. The National Audit Office has estimated that around £990 million has been spent on improving STEM skills for teaching staff and pupils between 2007 and 2017. As predicted, Modern Foreign Languages saw a healthy increase


in uptake this year, with entries increasing overall by three per cent. French remains the most popular language and Spanish increased by 7.5 per cent; this increase in popularity was also reflected in the A Level results (below).


UK SCHOOLS: GCSE RESULTS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS: A LEVEL RESULTS


• Box Hill School in Surrey, UK had an 81 per cent pass rate of grades 9 – 4, which is significantly ahead of the national average. A fifth of all grades were at 9 -7 and 87 per cent of all grades in Maths and English Language were 9 - 4, both well ahead of the national figures.


• Merchiston Castle School in Edinburgh, Scotland achieved a 93 per cent pass rate for its GCSE, IGCSE and National 5 results, with 57 per cent of pupils at grades 9/8/7.


• Pupils at The Oratory School in Reading, UK achieved 23 per cent of grades in the 9-8 category, 37 per cent at 9-7, and 78 per cent at grade 4 or higher, all significantly higher than the national average. A record eight per cent of all grades were grade 9.


A LEVELS: STEADY PASS RATES, BUT A GRADES HIT ROCK BOTTOM As well as GCSEs, A Levels have undergone reforms – including AS Levels and A Levels being decoupled. It was predicted that boys


• The British School in the Netherlands achieved 30 per cent of all grades at A*/A and 54 per cent of all grades A*- B and its students have gained places at a variety of international universities including the University of Oxford, Durham University, Technische Universiteit Delft, and the University of British Columbia.


would yet again beat girls in the number of top grades obtained for the third year running. However, this was not the case and girls have narrowly overtaken boys, with 25.5 per cent achieving the top grades, compared with 25.4 per cent of boys. The overall pass rate has remained the same since last year at


97.6 per cent for pupils across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. However, the overall number of A grades achieved has fallen since 2018 and is now at its lowest level since 2007. It is not surprising that STEM subjects have seen an increase in


uptake, considering the level of investment in encouraging pupils – particularly girls – to take these subjects. Clearly, the funding is working, as for the first time, the number of girls taking STEM has reached 50.3 per cent and has overtaken boys (49.6 per cent). Spanish (8,625 students) overtook French (8,355) for the first


time, making it the most popular foreign language at A Level. This is an interesting comparison to the GCSE uptake, where French held onto its title, even with a 7.5 per cent increase in Spanish. Figures released by UCAS have revealed that 408,960 students


have been accepted onto UK degree courses – a one per cent drop since 2018. UCAS has since added that 55,670 people have been accepted through Clearing in total so far this year.


46 | RELOCATE | AUTUMN 2019


Kingham Hill School, GCSE results day


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