MORE than 2,000 students across the borough celebrated improvements in maths and English after receiving their GCSE results.

Swindon is now in line with the 2018 national average after seeing a three per cent rise in the number of Year 11s who received a grade four or higher in both subjects - up from 61 per cent last year to 64 this year.

Plus, 58 per cent received a grade five or higher in English while 48 per cent achieved similar marks in maths - up by one per cent in English and two per cent in maths.

Under the new grading system, a grade four is roughly equivalent to a C.

The council's head of education Peter Nathan said: "A huge congratulations is due to all the students who received their GCSE results today. It is really great to see the improvements particularly at Abbey Park, Nova Hreod, Highworth and Kingsdown.

“It also shows the impact of the Swindon Challenge programme, which has worked closely with secondary schools to drive improvements for young people.

“These upward trends we are seeing in maths and English are very positive and every single student can be proud of the hard work they have put in throughout the course of their school lives. I wish them every success for the future.”

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Abbey Park School principal Jon Young said: "It has been a morning of celebration at Abbey Park School.

"My congratulations go to our pupils as they have performed extremely well, with 74 per cent of pupils achieving a standard pass of grade four in both English and maths and 49 per cent achieved a strong pass of grade five in English and maths.

"The school’s Progress 8 score will also be significantly higher than previous year. These excellent headline figures are testament to the hard work of pupils, staff and the support of parents. I am pleased and proud as these results reflect the school’s focus on ethos, attendance and parental engagement."

Kingsdown School students performed on average half a grade better than last year's students.

Headteacher Emma Leigh-Bennett said: “We are absolutely delighted to see such a strong set of GCSEs today for our students. These results reflect their considerable efforts, pride and ambition over the past two years.

“This change has been a result of our strong leadership resulting in high expectations, improved curriculum and assessment and the ongoing championing each and every one of students.”

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Highworth Warneford School headteacher Andy Steele hailed 70 per cent of all pupils achieving a grade four in both maths and English, 48 per cent achieving grade five or higher and 15 per cent of all grades being sevens, eights and nines.

Mr Steele said: “We are very pleased with this year’s provisional results.

"These results reflect the hard work of the pupils and the staff as well as the excellent support we receive from parents and governors.

"We are very pleased for the successes of all of our pupils and wish them well in the future.”

Lydiard Park Academy students achieving grade four or higher in both English and maths rose by four per cent to 70 per cent while 42 per cent achieved a grade five or higher.

Principal Gary Pearson said: “The school hall has been full of smiling, happy pupils this morning who worked extremely hard over the last two years and have been rewarded with a fantastic set of results.

MORE: Best-ever results for Nova Hreod Academy

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