Pupils at Durham High School were celebrating today (Thursday) after securing another set of fantastic results, with almost one in five grades awarded being a 9 – the highest grade attainable. Almost 40% of grades awarded were grades 9/8 (38.3%).

The celebrations were heightened as this was the cohort of students whose transition to senior school was disrupted by the Covid pandemic and multiple lockdowns.

The results reflected the school’s all-round excellence across STEM subjects, English, humanities, languages, arts and sport.

More than 45 per cent of students studying languages, ancient and modern, were awarded a grade 9; more than 41 per cent of separate Science grades were a 9 and 60 per cent of Religious Studies grades awarded were a 9. A 100% pass rate (9-4) was achieved in English Literature and Mathematics.

Headmistress of Durham High School, Michelle Hill, celebrates outstanding GCSE results.

placeholder image — Headmistress of Durham High School, Michelle Hill, celebrates outstanding GCSE results.

Durham High School brought in a rapid response to the Covid pandemic in early 2020 with lessons immediately switching online, greater deployment of technology and personalised wellbeing support to ensure pupils and their families were prioritised.

Michelle Hill, Headmistress at Durham High School, said: “Many congratulations go to our hardworking students who have produced another set of wonderful results at Durham High. My thanks go to our dedicated staff who have shown the breadth of our teaching excellence in these grades, and I look forward to seeing many of our pupils go on to study successfully in our Sixth Form from September.

“A huge thank you goes to our staff who were so determined not to let the pandemic harm our pupils’ education. Their resilience and adaptability is shown in the robustness of these grades and I know our families were incredible grateful for the support they received.”