GCSE results 2022: Luton schools celebrate as students pick up their exam results

Hundreds of Luton students receive their GCSE and vocational results today (August 25).

It is the first time in three years that students have sat summer GCSE examinations since 2019.

Just over three-quarters (75.3%) of GCSE grades for 16-year-olds in England are at grade 4 or above, up from 69.9% in 2019 when formal exams last took place and down from 79.1% in 2021, when grades were based on teacher assessments.

Top grades for 16-year-olds in England have also increased on 2019, with 27.0% of entries achieving a grade 7 and above, up by 5.2ppt compared to 2019, and 3.0ppt lower than 2021.

Overall grades today are higher than in 2019 - recognising the unprecedented disruption students have faced - but lower than in 2021 when exceptional steps were taken to ensure progression.

This piece will be updated as schools release their results.

Here’s how schools in Luton have done:

Queen Elizabeth School:

Headline figures at Queen Elizabeth School show a significant increase in progress from last year.

Highlights include: 35% of students gained a grade 9 at Biology; 31% of students gained a grade 9 in Chemistry; 31% of students gained a grade 9 in Physics; 74% of students gained 9-4 in English; 67% of students gained 9-4 in Maths; 66% of students gained 9-4 in Science. Average grade 4.5 across all subjects.

In 11 subjects, including Physics, Biology and Chemistry, an incredible 100% of students attained 9-5.

In a cohort full of individuals who have their own unique strengths and talents, special mention must be made of those who have achieved an outstanding set of results:

Margaret is elated with her results with eight 9s, one 8 and one 7. She said that QES gave her motivation to be around the right people, gave her the resources to know what’s coming in each exam with regular assessments helping her to improve. Margaret is excited to be going on to study Psychology, Maths and Spanish and plans to go on to University and gain a PHD to become a Physiotherapist. She advises younger QES students to start planning and working hard early, don’t give up and keep going until the end.

Ben achieved fantastic results with six 9s, three 8s and one 7. He praised QES teachers for pushing and supporting him through the years, particularly when he was struggling with difficult topics. Ben will be studying Maths, Physics, History and Further Maths at A-Level and would like to go on to study Sciences or History and Politics.

Zeel will be studying Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Further Maths A-Levels with a view to specialising in Medicine or IT in the future. She got five 9s, three 8s, one 7, an L2D* and a C in Additional Maths. She said that just after Mrs McPherson became Headteacher at QES, all the teachers showed they cared and wanted all students to do well, and this was motivation to put more effort into studying. Her advice to younger students is to set yourself a goal, once you’ve set it you can push yourself to achieve it.

Mr Stainsby, deputy headteacher: “We are incredibly proud of the Year 11s and their results in 2022. They have had a hugely disrupted experience during their education. Yet their determination alongside their exceptional support they gained from teachers is shown in these best ever results.”

Mrs McPherson, headteacher added: “We are incredibly proud and absolutely delighted with the success and achievement of our students. After facing the challenges of studying during a pandemic, their resilience, determination and tenacity has shone through in their outstanding results. We are looking forward to following their onward journeys. Our teachers have continued to work extremely hard and I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to every member of staff. Yet again, the school has made huge progress and I am looking forward to the new academic year as we strive for excellence and help our students to thrive.”

Lealands High School:

The Lealands High School Class of 2022 deserve to be very proud of their GCSE, BTEC and VCert grades.

The year group achieved the highest Attainment 8 score since the 9-1 GCSEs were introduced. Their Attainment 8 score was in line with the previous two CAGs and TAGs scores, and well above the 2019 score.

Highlights included: 55% of students achieved at least 5 grades 9-4 including English and mathematics; 34% of students achieved at least 5 grades 9-5 including English and mathematics; 63% of students achieved grades 9-4 in both GCSE English and mathematics and 37% of students achieved grades 9-5 in both GCSE English and mathematics.

Meanwhile, 78% of students achieved grades 9-4 in GCSE English, 60% of students achieved grades 9-5 in GCSE English and 75% of students achieved grades 9-5 in GCSE Spanish.

Overall, 260 grade 9-7s were achieved by this year’s students, which is record breaking.

Special congratulations go to: - Thaksha who achieved five grades 9s, four grade 8s and a Level 2 Distinction* (the top possible grade in the course); Uththaka who achieved four grade 9s, four grade 8s, a Level 2 Distinction* and a Level 2 Distinction; Sarah who achieved three grades 9s, five grade 8s and a Level 2 Distinction*; Kimathi who achieved three grades 9s, four grade 8s and a Level 2 Distinction; and George, Tija, Jahedi, Callum and Leena who all made exceptional progress.

John Burridge, Headteacher, said: “It was so wonderful to witness the joy and happiness of our students receiving their GCSE grades after such challenging times. Students and staff have worked so hard and their efforts have absolutely paid off with fantastic results. This year's results are some of the best Lealands' students have achieved and we are so proud of them. Their success is very well deserved and we wish them continued success in the future.”

The Chalk Hills Academy:

Students and staff at The Chalk Hills Academy are celebrating another set of excellent results from this year’s GCSE examinations.

63% of students achieved a grade 4 or above in English and mathematics with 10% achieving a high pass grade of 7-9. Over 70% of students achieved a grade 4 in either maths or English.

Some of the school’s top performers include: Hafsa Choudry who achieved grade 9s and a grade 7. Harry McCaughey, Mahnoor Usman, Rahat Chowdhury, Syeda Shah achieved grade 7 or above in all of their subjects.

Head of School, Raza Ali said: “I am delighted that our school is again seeing a great set of GCSE results from our fantastic students here at The Chalk Hills Academy. Students have made excellent progress with many examples of high achievement. I would personally like to congratulate the students, their families and our dedicated faculty who have once again risen to the challenge of producing great GCSEs and results for our students.”

Other notable achievements include more than 80% of students achieved grade 4 or above in BTEC Business, BTEC Dance, BTEC Health & Social, BTEC Sport, GCSE PE, GCSE RE and 100% of our triple scientists achieved a grade 5 or above with many achieving the top grades.

Louise Lee, Executive Principal added: “I am extremely proud of the success of our students and their hard work over the past two years. They were prepared exceptionally well for their external exams. We support our students to achieve the highest standards possible and we’re thrilled they will be

embarking on the next stage of their educational journey.”

The Chalk Hills Academy, with over 1,600 students, is part of The Shared Learning Trust, a family of schools based in Luton and Central Bedfordshire.

Denbigh High School:

The Denbigh High School community is celebrating another set of outstanding GCSE results – with students achieving the best results the school has ever seen.

Donna Neely-Hayes MBE, Headteacher at Denbigh High School, said: “I am absolutely ecstatic and tremendously proud. Behind this fantastic set of results is a story of resilience, determination and hard work from our students and staff, who have all been truly impressive throughout the five years that this cohort have been at Denbigh.

"They have remained completely committed, even when facing the adversity of the pandemic.

“The results our students have achieved will enable them to follow their chosen paths next year and beyond. I am absolutely certain that they will continue to be successful in the next phase of their education and chosen career. I would like to thank students, staff and parents, the whole Denbigh High School community, for their remarkable hard work and effort to achieve such fantastic results.”

Not only have the students at Denbigh achieved brilliant results overall, but there have also been some superb individual performances too. Particular achievements included those of Sania, Muskaan, Tayf and Hamza who were awarded 9-7 across all their subjects. Other standout students included Sara, Athoy, Martina, Shanza and Arifa who made exceptional progress across all subjects.

The Stockwood Park Academy:

In the first year since the return to externally-marked public examinations, students at The Stockwood Park Academy have achieved fantastic GSCE results.

With an overall increase in students achieving 9-4 in English and maths, there were also notable achievements in triple science.

Especially pleasing were the vocational results with Level 2 Technical subject Childcare, achieving a 100% pass mark, with over half of students achieving A* -B.

Another subject which had a 100% pass rate was business studies, a popular choice at the school.

There have been many notable individual successes at The Stockwood Park Academy. Karim Aboughanim achieved 9,8,8,8,8,8,8,7 and said: “I’m so happy with my results. The support and help from teachers at Stockwood Park, has been amazing and I want to say a big thank you to them.”

Another student, Alina Shah, achieved 9,9,9,9,8,8,8,7, and Tajim Hasan achieved 9,9,9,8,8,8,8,7.

Head of School, Mumin Humayun said: “I am incredibly proud of our students who have worked especially hard over the last few years to ensure that they achieve the results they need. One of the many rewards of my job is seeing students excel and witnessing all their hard work paying off. I am

delighted and proud of all the year 11 students here and look forward to welcoming them to our Sixth Form.”

Other subject achievements include 71.8% of students receiving A*-C in modern foreign languages, a record-breaking result for Stockwood Park.

Putteridge High School:

Putteridge High School is proud to announce another set of first-class results for its students.

Once again, the school’s results have improved, with the school saying that more than ever, the teaching staff and leadership team are immensely proud of this year’s cohort for showing such courage, determination and resilience in their studies.

Vincent and Olivia were among the school’s top achievers. Not only have they secured outstanding results, they also secured places and scholarships at Berkhamsted School.

Adeel and Lina, despite joining the school late and from other countries (with English as an additional language for Lina), also achieved fantastic results.

Other outstanding performances were seen from Presiana, Ianis and Noah.

Mr Graham, Headteacher of Putteridge High School is incredibly proud of the staff and students at the school.

He said “I am delighted to see another set of strong and high achieving grades for our well deserving students.

“The hard work from students and staff here at Putteridge High has paid off, these students have exciting times ahead of them. I wish them all the best as they take the next step in their education journey.”

Challney High School for Boys:

Staff, students and parents at Challney High School for Boys are absolutely delighted with the fantastic set of GCSE results that have just come in.

Headteacher Daniel Connor said: “This is a really strong set of results across all subjects and I could not be more pleased for our students and their parents. The students and all our staff worked incredibly hard to obtain these exemplary results and they are a testament to everybody’s steadfast commitment and dedication.

All subjects at the school performed very strongly. Photography, which was being examined for the first time on the school’s curriculum, performed particularly well, with every single candidate getting a grade 5 or better and 38% of them getting grades 9-7.

Another first-time subject, politics, also got incredibly good results, with 54% of students achieving the top 3 grades and 94% passing the subject.

The English language and English literature results were also outstanding, with over 80% of students getting a basic pass and nearly 70% of students getting a strong pass. And 43% of students, who took history, got the very top grades between 9 and 7 while 59% of students, who took RE, got the top 3 grades, with 92% of them achieving a pass or better.”

Mr Connor added, “I could not be more delighted with these results. They are the culmination, not only of extremely hard work, since last September, but also through the very difficult years of Covid and school lockdowns. I would particularly like to thank the governors of the school and CLT staff, for their support in securing these results.“

Just a few of the school’s top performers include Farzanul Chowdhury, who achieved the top grade 9 in every single one of his 10 subjects and Hakeem Essippu, who joined the school from overseas three years ago and initially spoke very little English, who attained the top 3 grades and distinctions in all of his subjects, bar one.

Deputy Head Boy, Zofeen Khan, achieved the top grade 9 in 6 of his subjects, a grade 8 in 3 of his subjects and a grade 7 in his 10th subject.

Zofeen and Armaan Khan have successfully secured scholarships to attend 6th Form at Berkhamsted School.

Armaan achieved the top grade 9 in 9 of his 10 subjects, with a grade 8 in the 10th.

Several students, despite having faced very significant medical challenges, through Covid and last year, nevertheless attained superb examination results. Fawad Bukhari, for example, achieved a grade 9 in English literature, a grade 8 in English language and many grade 7s and 8s in his other subjects, showing tremendous fortitude.

Challney High School for Girls:

Challney High School for Girls, part of the Chiltern Learning Trust, has boasted exceptional results over the last five years and secured an ‘Outstanding’ judgement from Ofsted in January 2020.

And this year’s results are a continuation of the school’s previous success.

The school’s maths and English results particularly stood out as shown by the overall outstanding progress score and the school says the exceptional results are a real testament to the hard work shown by students, with 123 grade 9s awarded across most subjects.

Among the top performing students is Sara Ahmed with 9 grade 9s and a level 2 distinction* in Engineering; Saniya Khawar with 9 grade 9s and a grade 8; Liya Kamran with 7 grade 9s and 2 grade 8s, and Tahsina Hamid with 7 grade 9s and 2 grade 8s.

Joanne Mylles, Headteacher at Challney High School for Girls, said: “I am extremely pleased with each of our student’s achievements. They have been awarded results that truly reflect the hard work and sheer dedication they have invested into their studies.

“These achievements have been driven by our students and the incredible inspiration from educational staff as well as students’ families and peers. I am extremely grateful for the teachers at Challaney High School, the optimism from the Head of Year and the year team, and the tremendous support and encouragement from parents and members of the Governing Body and the Chiltern Learning Trust.”

Rehana Faisal, Chair of Governors said: “We are thrilled with the results. The achievements seen today will empower our students to progress in their education and fulfil the school’s mission of ‘Developing influential women of the future.”

Lisa Dolan, Assistant Headteacher added: “I am so proud of our students and their studious, persevering attitude that has propelled their success. These excellent results have been achieved by hard work, resilience and determination.”

Cardinal Newman Catholic School:

Cardinal Newman Catholic School is celebrating its “best ever” set of results.

Andrew Bull, Headteacher, said: “The students at Cardinal Newman have not only pulled it off again, but totally surpassed themselves.

"The students have increased the grades from the last set of examined exams in 2019. We cannot forget that this year all these students have done an incredible job at the first time of asking of formal public exams having spent a significant amount of their senior school life learning online.

" I am incredibly proud of each and every one of them and these results each tell a story of overcoming adversity and resilience.”

Over 70% of all students achieved the basic passes (4+) and 52% achieved the strong passes (5+) in both English and maths – while 26% of grades were at the very top level of 7-9.

He added: “The students now have the results that they need to take the next steps in their educational, training or work journey. We are very excited to be welcoming a huge number back to Newman Sixth and wish all those that are going on to pastures new every blessing. Cardinal Newman is a special place and seeing the students celebrating with their teachers, parents and each other was incredible this morning!”

Priory Academy, Dunstable:

The academy’s Headteacher, Mahnaz Smith, who is retiring at the end of August, said: “I am so proud and delighted to see our young people’s success, despite the adversities of the pandemic. This fantastic set of results is a testament to our students’ hard work, our diligent staff and support that our parents give so wholeheartedly. Many, many congratulations to all our amazing students.”

Manshead CofE Academy, Dunstable:

Many students are staying at Manshead to study in the Sixth Form, others are heading to local colleges or apprenticeships. The school’s Headteacher, Mr McBurnie, said: “Having spoken to students collecting their results they are delighted by the results, with many staying at Manshead. After such a difficult two years for these students they have performed admirably. I wish all the Year 11 students the very best in their future endeavours.”