Record-breaking GCSE year for Great Academy Ashton

Great Academy Ashton has praised their students after ‘outstanding results’ in GCSE that have ‘broken all school records’. This year exams were cancelled due to coronavirus and replaced by teacher...
Written by Andrew Thewell, 20th December 2021

Great Academy Ashton has praised their students after ‘outstanding results’ in GCSE that have ‘broken all school records’.

This year exams were cancelled due to coronavirus and replaced by teacher assessed grades. However, teachers are still held accountable by the national standard and grades continue to be approved and awarded by exam boards.

264 students received their results from Great Academy Ashton, among them were many top achievers.

Training to be a GB target sprint shooting athlete, Harrison Pepper got top grades in his triple sciences and goes on to study Physics, Maths and Computer Science at Ashton Sixth Form College.

Hoi Lam Cheung couldn’t have done better, receiving 9 Grade 9’s and a Distinction Star. She’s excited to study Maths, Chemistry, Further Maths and Physics at Loretto College and aspires to study Astrophysics at university in the future.

Her top grades were closely followed by Malaika Majid, Saira Asif, Ayesha Lad, Fatima Butt, Aysha Siddiqa, Jessica Tierney, Isaac Preston and Khatija Mahmood.

Head Students, Elisabeth Salumu and Alfie Clifford, achieved 20 GCSEs between them in English Language, English Literature, Business Studies, French, History, Maths and Physics.

With 8 GCSEs under his belt and a 9 in Spanish, Wilson Ijiebor has been signed to Stockport County and moves on to study at Extended Diploma in Sports Coaching and Development.

The student that has made the most progress is Fahmida Begum after a total of 10 Grade 6 and above GCSEs, including a Grade 9 in Art.

Others that made ‘phenomenal progress’ are Mohanampal Bevananthan and Amani Khan. Both gained more than 3 GCSE grades higher than they were expected to.

Principal at Great Academy Ashton, Mr David Waugh, added: “I am simply in awe of everything our young people have achieved and the great positive impact our staff have had. I am genuinely moved and in awe of just how well our students have done, they are quite simply the best results we have ever had.

“Their results are so very well deserved and are a great reward for their unwavering dedication to their studies and their participation in school life. I do not want to say that our students have achieved all this in the face adversity because of the global pandemic, these results stand alone as a testament to their greatness and hard work.

“We ask our students to be the best possible version of themselves in every aspect of school life and this year group has certainly done that, surpassing all previous records set. I am truly humbled to see how well each one of them has achieved in their GCSE and BTEC qualifications”