732 pupils get clean sweep of 9s in their GCSEs

[HPFA]

Remember that thread about only a tiny handful of pupils getting all 9s?

According to one local newspaper (unfortunately they don't give a reference):
There were only 732 pupils across England who scored a clean sweep of top 9 grades in all their GCSE

www.bucksfreepress.co.uk/news/16594185.gsce-results-day-2018-get-the-latest-live-updates-from-schools-across-bucks/

Brighton College say five of their pupils gained 10 Grade 9s so the overall figure sounds roughly correct.

www.theguardian.com/education/2018/aug/23/gcses-boys-close-gap-on-girls-after-exams-overhaul

I want to know how many of those straight-9s were at comprehensive state schools

Jellybabies

Here's one:

twitter.com/larkmeadschool/status/1032568998892904448

There are three comps in our town and this one takes in the most deprived intake.

For all that there's still a lot wrong with our education system there were many schools in the eighties where it would have been enormously difficult for a pupil to get these sort of grades no matter what their intelligence. There are few schools now where that is impossible for an able pupil willing to do the work.

Crazy. It makes the grades so meaningless when they hand them out like smarties.

Whenever I see something along these lines, i mentally translate it into "I'm disappointed that little Tarquin has to compete for a sixth form place with a bunch of oiks".

Just been playing with this analytics.ofqual.gov.uk/apps/2018/GCSE/County/

Apparently if you want a 9 in maths you should move to Bucks, 9 in PE? Kent’s your county. Herts for RE!

MY daughter got 10 grade 9's and one grade 8 - and Im incredibly proud of her.

She worked very very hard and I will not even suggest to her that the exams were easy. How insulting would that be?

I am a single parent on a low income and her school is a basic comprehensive state school. I did not and could not have afforded to pay for a tutor.

She is simply a very hard worker with an impressive level of intelligence. She deserves it.

From posting on the other GCSE thread it's clear that lots of dc at fee paying schools are still getting a mix of numbers and letters.

Does this figure exclude them?

In which case will it jump up next year when lots more private schools move to all 9-1?

Dds slightly below average comp had one boy get 8 x 9s and 2 x 8s and another got 7 x 9s.

Several of dds friends were disappointed to just miss out on 4s for English and maths though.

Another one from state comp:

twitter.com/DidcotGirls/status/1032586194197114880

Isn't this good and shows that 9's are for the very top performing kids?
If there were many more we'd all be saying how easy the new GCSE's are. They should be challenging for all levels and I say that as a parent whose child is likely to scrape 4's in science and Maths.

@Gibble1 - agree that the smarties analogy is awful. I hope your DD goes on to great success.

Remember well done to your Dd and you!! Brilliant results

@BertrandRussell - yes, 80% of the year group.

Must have been a very select year group!

Not for the school. Historically, the average student gets all A*s and 1A at GCSEs.

But you are absolutely correct that the principal reason for the scores is that it is an extremely selective school.

Smarties indeed. What a sour old comment. DD4 is one of those and her grades put her in the top 0.1%. A huge well done to all these kids.

So it was a pretty pointless post, then wasn’t it? Around 70/80% of the girls at my dd’s grammar school got As and A*s too. Says nothing except that it was a selective schoool and it would be more surprising if they hadn’t.

You can't base a claim that "this year's GCSE was no harder than the previous ones" on a group of kids who in general will have more cultural and institutional resources to aid exam success. These kids would not have been as significantly affected by any chance to the exam difficulty than kids without these resources. It doesn't reflect any kind of national picture.

Well done goodbye’s and remember’s DDs, an amazing achievement!

Two that I spoke to at our non selective state comprehensive (both boys) got straight 9s, there may be more, school haven’t said yet!

Thank you so much noble!

DD has managed to get into college to do her A levels. She has had to change her pathway from biomedical to maths and has to continue with her maths tutor for the next two years (god knows how we’ll afford it but we must so we will).

My ds is at a non selective comp and he is one of the 732 with 9x9 and 2x8. He and his teachers are thrilled, he worked his socks off and I am the proudest any Mum could be!

Bet their mums are all on Mumsnet

@Betrand

Another student from an "ordinary comp" getting all 9s

twitter.com/WheatleyPark/status/1032570109137698823

We certainly had one not with straight 9's at the very standard comprehensive school I work in.

We, as teachers, are very proud of him as are his parents. He is a lovely young man who has absolutely worked his socks off throughout his time at school.

Similarly, we are very proud of all of our pupils. Some may not have got top grades but they have worked exceptionally hard to acheive what they have. Not everyone is academic and for these kids, a grade 4 is an exceptional achievement.

'Handed out like smarties' and similarly comments really annoy me - it is extremely unfair to belittle the achievements of people who have worked hard for their results.