Bethany’s Year 11 pupils have rounded off a most successful year. The ISI Inspection in April rated Bethany as excellent in all areas and our Year 11 pupils have followed this up with outstanding GCSE results.

The academic profile of pupils at Bethany is in line with the national average and yet our pupils achieved grades far in excess of national norms. This was made possible by parents, pupils and staff working in harmony to ensure that pupils achieved, and in many cases exceeded, their academic potential. The Government decided to align GCSE grades with 2019 and Bethany’s percentages of 7-9 and 4-9 grades this year surpassed these benchmarks, thus replicating the success of our A Level pupils last week.

Bethany offers a broad curriculum at GCSE. Once again the top performing subject was English with a 100% pass rate, closely followed by Creative Arts, Performing Arts and Humanities subjects. With the Performing Arts achieving a 97% pass rate, it is evident that the new Performing Arts Centre will be put to excellent use when it opens in 2024, providing state of the art facilities for our exceptionally talented pupils.

Of course, education is far broader than exam successes, important though these are, and Bethany is also very proud to have retained the Wellbeing Award for Schools, which objectively authenticates the individual support and guidance we give to every pupil to maximise their personal development.

Francie Healy, Headmaster, commented “Words cannot accurately reflect just how incredibly proud and pleased I am with these excellent results. The unity of purpose shown by staff, pupils and parents was a joy to witness throughout the past year. I was worried (needlessly as it turned out) that the tightening of grade boundaries nationally would prevent our pupils getting the outcomes their hard work deserved. Having overachieved at GCSE the challenge now for our pupils is to repeat this at A Level. No one rises to challenges better than Bethany’s amazing staff and suitably ambitious pupils”.

Pupil, Alex said, “I’m very happy with my results, thank you to everyone at Bethany. To get three 9’s and five 8’s is amazing, this has set me up perfectly for the future.”

Pupil, Ben said, “I feel very relieved now the results have been announced. I’m shocked (in a good way) with my English grade, I never thought I’d get a 9! Overall I’m very, very happy with my results and couldn’t have achieved this without the help and support from my teachers.”

Ben’s mother added, “I couldn’t be more proud of how well Ben has done in his exams. To get a 9 in a subject that has been a struggle for him since he started school is beyond amazing. More importantly, I am proud of the young man he has become and that is thanks to Bethany and the incredible support they give to pupils.”

Mother of Lucy said, “We are extremely pleased with Lucy’s GCSE results and wanted to extend our thanks to all the teachers for their support and encouragement. We look forward to what the next chapter at Bethany School Sixth Form brings for her.”