Bedlington Academy head insists pupils should be "incredibly proud" of their GCSE results

There were significant improvements across the board, with almost three quarters achieving grade 4s in English and maths, and nearly half of all students achieving at least five grade 5s or above in their subjects.

The percentage of students achieving a grade 5 or above in English and maths has risen by a whopping 27% since 2019, which was when youngsters last sat exams. One in every five grades awarded was at grade 8 or 9, the top two achievable grades.

Students performed well across the curriculum, with strong attainment in a wide range of subjects including science, performing arts, languages and humanities, as well as technical and vocational subjects such as sport, engineering and IT.

Despite much discussion nationally about the impact this would have on this year’s outcomes, Bedlington Academy said its students had excelled.

Top performing pupils include:

- Ryan Weatheritt, who achieved 7 grade 9s and a Distinction*

- Robbie Best, who achieved 5 grade 9s, 2 grade 8s and two Distinction* grades

- Gary Taylor, who achieved 5 grade 9s and 4 grade 8s

- Lucy Fleck, who achieved 4 grade 9s, 4 grade 8s and a grade 7

- Hannah Liddle, who achieved 5 grade 9s, 2 grade 8s and a grade 6

- Grace O’Shea, who achieved 4 grade 9s, 3 grade 8s and 2 grade 7s.

A host of other students achieved excellent outcomes with an average of grade 7 or higher in every subject, including Lucy Moat, Nathan Roy, Adam Murray, Maisie Dickinson, Billy-Jay Davison, Keigan Jackson, Emily Pattison and Annabel Burns.

An impressive 74 students – more than half the year group – met or exceeded their target grade in every subject, with 23 students making exceptional progress of more than one grade above target in every subject. These top performers for progress include Gabriel Irvine, Antonio Petrov, William Smith, Aimee Appleby, Katie Challoner, Neve Wylie, Paige Spratt, Kiera McMorn, Lilly-May Carr, Chelsea Greaves, Toni Brewis, Fletcher Richmond and Josh Armstrong.

Joanna Lamb, Head of School at Bedlington Academy, said: “Our students have proven themselves to be hugely resilient, bouncing back from the challenges of the last two years with a fantastic set of GCSE results that they can be incredibly proud of.

"After lots of uncertainty nationally around exams this year, this is a brilliant achievement and students should be very proud of how far they have come. Our school is going from strength to strength thanks to a strong curriculum, excellent teaching and wider support for students which is second to none”.

“We look forward to working with all of the students who are returning to study A-levels in our sixth form, NE6, and we wish everyone else the best of luck in their future endeavours.”