Aug 25 - Celebrations Across Gibraltar As Students Receive Their GCSE Results
Today is a day for celebrations as hundreds of students picked up their GCSE results, with an impressive pass rate of 70% in Gibraltar.
The results show an overall pass rate A*-C of 70%: a 4% increase on last year and the highest pass rate achieved in the last five years.
Headteachers Michelle Barabich from Westside School and Michael Tavares from Bayside School, as well as the College of Further Education Principal Leon Abecasis are all very proud of their students and staff alike, saying it is teamwork that has brought about good results for their students.
Mrs Barabich said her students have done brilliantly well this year, and she is very impressed with the results and very proud of them.
Students at Westside School have done particularly well at English Literature, Geography and Dance, with the numbers of A* grades increasing significantly.
Mrs Barabich said seven of her pupils achieved all A* and A results, with a number of students doing solidly well.
She said: “I would like to commend work and the effort by the teachers as well, they have been there for the girls, giving them extra classes and being there for them until just days before the exams if the students asked for help.”
Mr Tavares said there was an upbeat mood at the school as teachers and students alike celebrated the results, with Bayside Students achieving a 69% pass rate for grades A* - C, a 7% increase from last year.
Although one student in particular, David Garcia, walked away with 10 A*’s with full marks given to him for English, Mr Tavares noted that a lot of his students did very well.
“This is all down to the combined efforts by students and teachers alike,” he added.
Mr Abecasis said there was a lot of excitement, shrieking and excitement at the College of Further Education as GCSE students picked up their results, adding that although the pass rate for A* - C grades dropped down to 50% this year, his students have still done very well and a lot of his students have shown an interest in returning to the College by requesting application forms to sit their AS-Levels in September.
Mr Abecasis added: “There have been many success stories and my teachers and I are both very satisfied with a lot of the results.
“When it comes to my students, a lot of them are sitting their exams a second or a third time, and as long as they do better than the year before, that is still an achievement for them, with a lot of mature students resitting English or Maths that lends today a whole different dimension.”
The Department of Education will now analyse these results and will work closely with schools in order to continue to improve.
Minister for Education Gilbert Licudi expressed his satisfaction with the results and wished to congratulate students on their performance. He was also grateful to teachers for all their hard work.
He added: “This next academic year will bring significant changes being introduced both to subject content, with breadth and depth of study material both being increased, and, furthermore, to the way examinations are graded with the introduction of a super A*, called a level 9, in some subjects, our schools and professionals will be prepared to meet these challenges and will work tirelessly to ensure that every child achieves his or her absolute potential.”
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