Record haul for borough's GCSE students

5.50.46pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 27th Aug 2007

Students in Richmond upon Thames are celebrating a record year of GCSE results. Provisional figures indicate that 59 per cent of pupils will have achieved five or more A* to C grades, up two per cent on last year's record-equalling results.

This year a number of schools produced some outstanding results, with headteachers paying tribute to the hard work of pupils, parents and teachers. Cllr Malcolm Eady, Cabinet Member for Children's Services and Education on Richmond Council, said:

"I am pleased with the overall improvements made this year and students and their teachers can be proud of the results. This Council has made raising standards in secondary schools one of the key priorities and this year's GCSEs are now promising to be the best ever. I am delighted that so many of our young people have seen their hard work rewarded this year and I congratulate them. This is the result of considerable efforts from the schools, the council's school improvement staff but, most of all, the pupils themselves. We will enjoy celebrating these results but we still have a lot of hard work to do over the next few years to ensure we keep improving the standards of our secondary schools and ensure that all our pupils maximise their potential. This is a job for all of us - council, schools and of course the young people themselves but after this years results I know we are on the right track and am confident we will continue to improve."