It was smiles all round once again, as Norton Hill and Somervale posted outstanding GCSE results. Following the record high A-levels last week, students at both schools in the town have achieved excellent outcomes.

Norton Hill and Somervale are now officially recognised as being in the top 5-10% of schools nationally, and the 2017 GCSE grades suggest they will continue to be amongst the top in the country.

At Norton Hill, students produced their best results ever, with 85% achieving a grade 4 pass in both English and Maths. This is equivalent to the old A*-C measure. Even more impressive, was the

percentage of students achieving a grade 5 or above in both subjects, which currently stands at over 60%. Nationally, the figure is thought to be around about 44% this year.

In other areas of the curriculum, results were equally as impressive. Science saw 85% of grades at C or above, languages, taken by all students at Norton Hill, posted 78% A*-C, and all other subjects were above 75% A*-C, with some even hitting 100%. The EBACC subjects performed extremely well, with 45% of students gaining ‘good’ passes in the subjects that constitute this measure, at least double the national average.

In the 5A*-C, including English and Maths measure, the school hit a record high of 85%, achieving this gold standard. In terms of progress, Norton Hill expects to again be in the top 5% nationally and in the top ten individual schools in the South West, further building on a great run of results over the last five years.

CEO and Headteacher, Alun Williams, said: “This is just simply a dream come true. Whatever changes the Government makes to education, the students and staff at Norton Hill respond by achieving even better results than we have had in previous years. I’m deeply proud of the Year 11 outcomes, and particularly those from our more vulnerable students, who have achieved better progress scores than any other group in the school. I am also delighted at the number of top grades achieved. Well done to everyone, parents included, who have made this possible.”

At Somervale it was a similar story, with over 60% of students achieving a grade 4 pass in both English and Maths. 75% of students achieved at least one grade 4 or above, in English language and literature. Other subject areas achieving record results were Science, further additional with over 30% of students achieving an A*-B grade, Music with 100% A*-C (74% at A*–B) and PE with 75% A*-C (20% of which were A*/A grades). The BTEC subjects also performed extremely well, especially in Creative and Media and Catering.