MALMESBURY School have come out as the top school in the North Wiltshire area in the latest government figures on GCSE performances.

Last summer, 74 per cent of year 11 pupils at the school achieved five or more A* to C grades at GCSE level including English and Maths according to figures from the Department of Education.

That figure was higher than Hardenhuish School in Chippenham and Lavington School in Devizes (both 70%), St John’s in Marlborough (64%) and The Corsham School (63%).

Elsewhere, Sheldon School (62%) pipped Abbeyfield School (59%) in Chippenham, while Devizes School, John Bentley School in Calne (both 49%) and Pewsey Vale (41%) all fell below 50 per cent.

Malmesbury head teacher Tim Gilson said: “It’s another good year for the school and the students did very well, I am delighted. We are very fortunate to have excellent, very hard working, and committed and well qualified staff who do a great job every day.

“Day in and day out it’s good quality teaching that makes the difference.”

Across the entire county, the performance tables show 60.5 per cent of students in Wiltshire achieved the benchmark of five or more GCSEs at A* to C grade including English and Maths, higher than the national average and an improvement of nearly four percent on last year’s figure.

Nearly a quarter of students (24.8%) also achieved the English Baccalaureate with good GCSEs in academic subjects including English, Maths, Sciences, Language, and Geography or History.

Laura Mayes, cabinet member for children’s services at Wiltshire Council, said: “I’d like to congratulate our pupils for these excellent results and the schools for providing a thriving academic environment where our young people can excel.”

Sixth form students have also maintained high levels of results achievements in A level exams with nearly all students in Wiltshire achieving at least one A* to E A level grade (99.6%), with 93.7 percent and 81.1 percent leaving with two or three A* to E grades respectively.

Carolyn Godfrey, corporate director at Wiltshire Council, said: “We are committed to helping our young people reach their potential and I’m delighted we can once again celebrate good results.

“We will always seek further improvement and it is this continual drive to help our students achieve their very best which has been recognised nationally.”

 

NB. This article refers only to Wiltshire Council funded state and academy schools.