Pupils at Mossbourne Community Academy were celebrating this morning as 41 students picked up the top new award of grade 9 in the more challenging English and maths papers.
Five pupils racked up three grade 9s across the board in English language, English literature and maths – the equivalent to an “A star star”, and only awarded to 20 pc of the A* to A band achievers.
One of them, Matteo Walls, who bagged an impressive seven A*s on top of his three 9s told the Gazette he was “certainly not expecting to”.
“English has never been my strong point and it’s a controversial subject,” he said. “You don’t know if an examiner will like your interpretation or not.
“The English was meant to be a three-year course and we only had two years. It was very demanding and it covered a lot of stuff which is great if you like learning.
“I worked a lot throughout the year because I found cramming at the end is too stressful. It’s better to be consistent.”
He is now planning to study maths, further maths, physics and music A-levels, also at Mossbourne.
“Mossbourne is great – there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “The preparation and commitment is not just from teachers but everyone at the school.”
Hadiyah Qureshi was also “really surprised” with her grades – which included seven A*s and an A in psychology on top of the three 9s – despite working really hard.
She is staying at Mossbourne to study maths, further maths and Spanish at A-level.
“I don’t think I’d have got this far without the teachers,” she said. “They’ve always been helping out if I’ve got extra questions or if I was stressed out they would talk to me and make me feel better and make me laugh.”
Nathan Creighton, who achieved two As, eight A*s and two 8s in English, told the Gazette he was happy after two years of really hard work.
He is going to study computing, physics and chemistry at Mossbourne because he really likes the communal spirit.
Peter Hughes, chief exec of the Mossbourne Federation, which is behind the academy, said he was “delighted” with the pupils’ results, where 83pc achieved the new Grade 4 and above in English and maths.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here