THERE was a real celebratory feel at Benton Park School on Thursday as students collected their GCSE results, after what can only be described as a turbulent 18 months.

Following cancellation of the exams by the government in January, this year’s results have been awarded using a Teacher Assessed Grades process. This involved rigorous processes outlined by the exam boards and required students to have produced a range of evidence which could be assessed by teachers. The grades were then quality assured within schools and came under scrutiny by the exam boards directly. The grades awarded are fair and accurate and students deserve huge congratulations for their achievements in extraordinary circumstances.

Headteacher Delia Martin said: “It has been wonderful to share our students’ successes with them today and support them in securing Post 16 courses and apprenticeships. Their results reflect all of their hard work over the last 5 years and in particular their resilience and positivity during the last 2 years. We are proud of how they have handled the situation and the maturity they have shown and they really do deserve to be congratulated on their achievements. The majority of our students are coming back to join us in September as they have secured their preferred Post 16 course choices in a wide variety of subjects including Politics, Economics, German and Psychology as well as some of the more traditional courses. We are looking forward to supporting them over the next 2 years to see what they can achieve next and the exciting destinations they can secure for Post 18 study.

"I would equally like to thank my staff team who work incredibly hard each day to support our students. In particular over the last few months, they have embraced the Teacher Assessed Grades process outlined by the exam boards and worked with unwavering professionalism and integrity to ensure the grades our students were awarded reflected all of their hard work and effort.”

Proudly celebrating some of the top grades awarded were: FRANKS Evie; FINES Polly; TOMLINSON Martha; POWELL Lucy; BAXTER Ethan; CLARKE-DUNN Beatrix; MARSHALL Aniela; PATEL Aryen; STABLES Lucy; WALTON Charles; MCCONNELL Misty; SAUNDERS Ella; BURDEN Emily; LITTLEWOOD Lucas; FAWELL Ella; ABDELMONEM Hisham Mohamed Gamal; PEARSON Charlot; STOCKELL Kyra; WILSON Freya; KHAN Maira; RYDER Cara; TAYLOR-BAILEY Eva; MILLER Benjamin.