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Academic Quality & Results

There are no shortcuts to success. Our pupils typically achieve better than expected results because we have a culture of high aspirations and hard work.

Academic Quality & Results

There are no shortcuts to success. Our pupils typically achieve better than expected results because we have a culture of high aspirations and hard work.

GCSE results were of an extremely high standard again in 2019 with 98% of all exams achieving a “good pass” or better at the new Grade 4+, compared to the national average of 67%.

Most impressively, 45% (compared to the national average of 20.6%) of exam grades at Hydesville were awarded at Grade 7 or above with half the cohort securing 5 or more GCSEs at Grades 7-9 – the previous A grade equivalent. Over a fifth of all exams were awarded Grades 8 or 9, the latter being the equivalent of an A** to show exceptional performance.

Results in specific subject areas were exceptional.  In Science, 55% (compared to the national average of 42.3%) of grades were 7 or above in Biology, 72% (the national average was 43.9%) were Grade 7 and above in Chemistry, with 18% (compared to 13% nationally) at Grade 9, and 73% (43.8% nationally) achieved Grade 7 and above in Physics.

In addition, an outstanding 100% of History grades were Grade 8 and above and over 84% achieved a “strong pass” at Grade 5+ in English Language.

Read more about our 2019  GCSE results here.

 

Year on year our pupils achieve consistently good grades.


Our 2019 GCSE Highlights

98%

Exams achieving a “good pass” at the new Grade 4+

(vs. 67% National Average)

 

45%

Grades awarded at 7+ (the previous A grade equivalent)

(vs. 20.6% National Average)

 

 

95%

Achieved 5 or more GCSEs (at grade 4 or above), inc Eng & Maths

 

 

Exam results are one important measure of a school’s performance and we are proud to report consistently top notch grades.

Hydesville Tower Senior School was ranked as the third highest achieving Secondary School in the borough in the 2018 GCSE league tables published by the Department for Education.  The league tables show that the school’s Attainment 8 score – which gauges achievement across eight qualifications including English and Mathematics –  far exceeds the national average.

Although extremely proud of our position in the GCSE performance tables, there is another measure which is of greater importance to us; the amount of progress each child makes.   ‘Value added’ is a measure of the progress pupils make between different stages of their education; if pupils perform beyond expectations this is reflected in a high ‘value added’ score. The Senior School is within the top three per cent nationally when it comes to adding value to a child’s level of attainment.

 

In our Prep School many  children sit the 11+ exam and are offered a place at a selective secondary school of their choice.

Their success is due to a combination of natural ability and the teaching and experiences they have received from our Nursery onwards.

The specific 11+ preparatory work our experienced teachers deliver from Year 2 gives our pupils a certain advantage.  We are proud of our academic achievements and high quality teaching.

Preparation for 11+ has always been a tradition at Hydesville and a significant number of pupils continue to secure places at our local grammar schools.  We understand that such places are not suitable for all pupils and our regular tracking and monitoring enables us to support all pupils to the journey to success.

 

GL assessments are undertaken every year across the country, with benchmarks of above 112 as representing high achievement.  Therefore, success obtained is a measure of the outstanding teaching occurring within the school.

Our GL assessment enables us to check the accuracy of attainment within a national context.

For the academic year 2018/19 we are delighted to announce that all year groups averaged 112+ in GL assessments (English and Maths combined), with the average scores as follows:

Year GroupEnglish & Maths combined score
Year 1122
Year 2117.6
Year 3115.5
Year 4124.2
Year 5116.8
Year 6114.5

Our test results in the EYFS profile far exceed the national average.  For our Nursery children, in the academic year 2018/19, on average, children made 6.5 steps of progress across their Prime Areas during the year (4.5 steps us regarded as expected).

Also, by the end of the academic year 2018/19, 85% of our children reached a ‘good’ level of development at the end of our EYFS.  The national average was 72%.

Children are defined as having reached a good level of development at the end of the EYFS if they have achieved at least the expected level in:

  • the early learning goals in the prime areas of learning (personal, social and emotional development; physical development; and communication and language)
  • the early learning goals in the specific areas of mathematics and literacy.

Pupils continue to achieve highly and exceed national expectations at the end of Key Stage 2.  The end-of-year results for 2018/19 are as follows:

Expected StandardNational Scores
Reading100%73%
Spelling, punctuation and grammar86%78%
Mathematics93%79%
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