Schools in South and East London are celebrating a second wave of exam successes as GCSE results are published.

Following the drama of last week’s A Level grades, today younger students have learnt the results of their GCSEs – two years of work that, for many, will provide a foundation for further study.

Nationally, results have once again shown an improvement on last year, with 69.1% of papers graded C or above. 22.6% received one of the top two grades, A and A*.

Among the high achievers locally was 16-year-old Anish Jalabhay, head boy at The Oasis Academy Coulsdon, who achieved top grades in an impressive 18 subjects. The school’s principal, David Millar, described himself as ‘very proud’ of his students and their achievements.

At Croydon High School, 99.27% of papers were graded A*-C, with two top pupils, Frederiekje Fayd’Herbe De Maudave and Natalie Coulthwaite, achieving 11 A* grades each. Head of 6th Form Heidi Mester described them as ‘bright, charming, well-rounded girls’ who are ‘a joy to teach.’

Meanwhile, Harris City Academy Crystal Palace achieved its best ever GCSE results for the third year in a row, with 25 students achieving 10 or more A and A* grades.

Principal Steve Kenning described himself as ‘delighted’ with the results, adding: “These results are great news as they give all our students a real life opportunity. Their success allows them to move on to the next level confidently.”

At The Petchey Academy in Hackney, students from Year 10 were celebrating as they gained GCSEs a year early. 80% of the school’s first crop of Year 10 students achieved a GCSE grade from A* – C in at least one subject – results that will set them in good stead for their exams next year.

One high-achieving student, 15-year-old Meir Touitou, succeeded in gaining A* grades in Biology, Chemistry and Religious Studies, as well as As in Geography and History – and an A in AS Level Maths.

To sample the results day atmosphere, EastLondonLines went to two local schools, Bethnal Green Technology College and Mulberry School for Girls – and found a lot of ‘shocked’ students left outside.

Staff at Bethnal Green Technology College, Gosset Street, told pupils they had a ‘surprise’ for everyone – it being a good set of results when they got there.

Kudret Ismail, a 16 year old who lives on Kingsland Road, Hackney, said he ‘wasn’t expecting to do well’ because of pre-exam nerves. However he leaves the school with a mixture of Bs and Cs, with the intention of studying art and design at Southwark College.

For his post exam celebrations Kudret said he plans on fine dining with the family, after his Mum promised to take him for a meal if he got higher than a C in Turkish.

Elsewhere, at Mulberry School for Girls there were similar results with a chorus of happy students getting A*- C grades – and one girl did very well indeed, getting 9 As and A*s as her end result.

Planning on attending Mulberry Sixth Form in September, Rema Rohim said she was most surprised by her English result because she got a C but was expecting higher. Despite this she left with largely high Bs – missing out on As by only a few marks – and said overall she ‘did better than expected.’

But it wasn’t just the Year 11s getting their GCSE results at Mulberry: some bright pupils from year 10 also took exams in Citizenship and Science. Taznin Begum and Aniqa Basith both agreed: “It was a good experience doing it a year early as it prepares you for the real thing and there’s always another year to retake.”

Aniqa added: “Considering I did no revision I was quite happy with my C and D for now.”

Additional reporting by Amy Lacey.

Tags: Education, exams, gcse, results, schools