Malvern St James Girls’ School has announced an excellent raft of GCSE results for 2018, with girls achieving a 100% pass rate.
In terms of all the I/GCSEs entries graded 9-7/A*-A, at MSJ this was an impressive 61.1% compared to 20.5% across the UK.
This year, ten girls have achieved eight or more 9-8/A* grades in their I/GCSEs, whilst three girls have received a clean sweep of 9/A* grades which is extremely rare nationally as only a couple of hundred students are estimated to have been awarded these results in the UK as a whole. Twins, Hattie and Kay Baxter from Malvern, have between them achieved nineteen 9/A* grades. Genevieve Manning from Cradley in Worcestershire, also achieved a clean sweep of 9/A* grades. We are thrilled for them on their extraordinary achievement!
At MSJ, 24.4% of all entries were graded at 9 which compares to 4.5% in the UK as a whole, while 39.7% were graded at 9 and 8 combined which compares to 11.5% nationally. Similarly at MSJ, 59.2% of entries graded 9-7 compared to 21.6% nationally.
This is the first full year of results at MSJ reflecting the new reformed I/GCSEs and despite the well-publicised additional pressure young people now face, MSJ girls have not only triumphed academically but continue to maintain a healthy balance by pursuing their passions outside the classroom such as in Sport, Riding, Music, Debating or Drama at a very high level.
Out of the cohort, 96.1% of girls achieved 9-4/A*-C; this is no mean feat in what has been widely declared by all educationalists as a more rigorous exam year with reforms across the majority of GCSE subjects now grading papers 1-9.
Mrs Olivera Raraty, Headmistress of MSJ, commented: “I am extremely proud of all the girls who have all worked so hard to achieve these fantastic results with many individual personal successes, as not all students find examinations easy. With the new reforms, the GCSEs are now very much harder so I am absolutely delighted.”
Overall, an amazing 18% of pupils gained the top grade 9 in English Literature, which means that their ability surpasses the previous top grade of A*. In Mathematics, an impressive 48% achieved grades 9-8 and 65.4% of girls bagged grades 9-7. This is an exceptional result.
In the Languages suite of subjects, girls have performed very well. Modern Foreign Language, French, has 71.4% of entries at grades 9-7, 100% of entries for Greek at grades 7-9 and 83.3% of entries for Latin at grades 9-7. The School is delighted that girls are opting for difficult global languages including extra-curricular Chinese, where all girls for whom the subject is a Modern Foreign Language, achieved 100% A*-A grades.
In Humanities and Social Sciences, there is also a raft of excellent results. Geography has 69% of entries at A*-A; History has 68% of entries at A*-A; 80% of entries for Economics were at A*-B, whilst 92.9% of Religious Studies entries were at 9-7 grades. For Computing, 80% of entries were at grades 9-8 and 100% of Business Studies entries were at A*-C.
In Creative subjects, Art has done particularly well with 84.6% of entries achieving grades 9-7. The results for Music are similarly strong with 75% grades 9-7.
Mrs Raraty continued: “Together with the range of extra-curricular commitments the pupils take on, these results show that you can balance diverse individual interests and achieve impressive academic results. The sheer breadth of these girls’ individual profiles and today’s results show the value of an MSJ education. They have done superbly well.”