OKEHAMPTON College students enjoying their summer holidays returned to their school on Thursday to learn their GCSE results ? and for most, after all the stress and anticipation, they were definitely worth waiting for. The week before, the college enjoyed hearing that its A level students had received a 97% rate ? up from the previous year ? and on Thursday the GCSE marks showed comparative success. Of the 243 students, mostly 16-year-olds in Year 11, who took the national exams, statistics showed that 56.7% obtained the gold standard of five A* to C grades, including maths and English language. It takes Okehampton College into the top 25% of the schools and colleges in the country for academic acheivement. College principal Darryl Chapman was again pleased that the students had been rewarded for their efforts. He told the Times: ?Last year we set out to really improve English and mathematics so it is particularly pleasing to see these results with 63 per cent of maths students obtaining A* to C grades. ?The work, focus and drive we have put in as a college has been shown by these results. ?With the information and data available to schools these days we used to set our targets to be in the top 25 per cent of the country, and we hit that target.? Now the students have their results many will now have an interview with college staff tomorrow (Friday) to determine what A levels to take or their future educational options. Mr Chapman anticipates 140 of the students will return to the college for post-16 education ? either at A levels or vocational courses. Among the successes were Kirsty Vinnicombe who obtained 2As, 3Bs, 4Cs and a D who now wants to go onto the college sixth form to take A-levels in drama, media studies, English literature and photography; Beki Dixon, who had five Cs and is also going onto the sixth form; Fay Hester, who earned 8As and 2Bs and looking forward to A-levels in English Literature, psychology, media and product design; Cathy Rice who achieved A passes in maths and graphics, Bs in religious studies, English literature, drama and geography and Cs in English, psychology and IT ? she hopes to do A-levels in maths and psychology and possibly biology. Jo Thompson from North Tawton was another happy student after an A in drama, Bs in English literature and language and Cs in religious studies, science, media, maths and IT. She said: ?I?m very pleased, especially with my A in drama, and I didn?t expect to pass so many. Mr Chapman added: ?There are some excellent individual performances, with some getting A*s above the board but I have to say all the students should be congratulated, especially as it?s a very stressful time for them. ?However, we must remember that it is not just about the exams they took, it?s the culmination of two years? hard work. ?It also matters very much to the staff who care about their students to see them reach their potential.? AT Shebbear College a 92% pass rate at grades A*- C was greeted with joy by pupils and a sense of satisfaction from staff. Headmaster Bob Barnes was pleased that 88% of pupils achieved at least five passes at grades A*-C, including Mathematics, English and Science, a figure way above the national average. ?These are tremendous results and are a consequence of much hard work by pupils and staff alike. ?Coupled with our excellent A-level results and a strong and most positive Inspection report in May this has been a very productive and encouraging year,? he said.
