Students at Bishop Luffa School are celebrating outstanding GCSE results, as 86% of students achieved grade 4 or above in English and Maths and 62% achieved grade 5 or above.
Leila Karim was the school’s top performer, achieving a clean sweep of grade 9s in all 10 subjects that she studied. Jasmine Westlake and Lucinda Turner both achieved grade 9 in 8 subjects, whilst Esme Rowbotham, Grace Kemp and Anton Madinaveitia joined them in achieving grade 8 or above in all of their subjects.
Freya Jones made the most progress of any student at the school. Freya’s results from primary school gave her targets of 6s and 7s but Freya worked hard to come out with an average grade of 8.4, including 5 grade 9s.
Other notable successes include Mujib Tamam-Mukhtar, who achieved a grade 7 in Maths. Mujib was an unaccompanied refugee from Ethiopia who spent time in the notorious Calais “jungle”. When he joined Bishop Luffa School in 2016, Mujib spoke no English. Mr Andrew Jackson, Assistant Head Teacher, said: ‘Mujib is an inspiration to all of us. He has endured more hardship in the last sixteen years than most of us will see in our lifetimes. His resilience and his cheerfulness have made him one of the most popular students in his year.’
It was not only Year 11 students who were receiving good news at Bishop Luffa School. Will Lynas took three GCSEs in Year 10, achieving a grade 9 in Maths, an ‘A’ in Additional Maths and an 8 in Computing. Head Teacher Austen Hindman said: ‘Will was ready to take those exams and making him wait until he was in Year 11 would have left him bored and demotivated. He is now able to go on and study Maths and Computing at a higher level while he completes the rest of his GCSEs. We are very proud of his incredible achievement.’
Students at Bishop Luffa school achieved an average grade of 5.5, or approximately a ‘B’ in the old system. Mr Hindman said: ‘every year the students who do well in exams do more than just study. The most successful students lead full lives, taking part in music, drama, and sports or in other activities like the Duke of Edinburgh Award. It is outside of the classroom that our students learn the resilience to succeed in exams.
‘We look forward to welcoming these students back to study in our Sixth Form.’