Congratulations to our UV (Year 11) students for a very successful round of GCSE examinations. 

This is a particularly impressive achievement when considering that this year group faced the challenge of being the first GCSE cohort to be marked at pre-pandemic standards, despite experiencing disruption to their education.

Over half of the grades awarded to St Mary’s Calne pupils were an 8 or 9 (roughly the equivalent of the old A* grade) and nearly three quarters of grades were at grades 9-7 (equal to A*-A in the letter grading system). This is an excellent achievement that the students should be very proud of and a testament to their hard work and determination.

The value added for the GCSE results was a highly impressive +1.2, meaning that on average each pupil achieved over one grade higher than expectation. Notably, some pupils achieved over three grades higher than expected!

Special mention goes to local students Honor Bell (Salisbury, Wiltshire), Claire Dodd (Calne, Wiltshire), Eva Martin (Gloucestershire) and Lara Worsley (Great Somerford, Wiltshire) who all achieved exceptional results. Many congratulations also to our Foundation Scholar*, Molly Cawley (Heddington, Wiltshire), who did excellently across her GCSEs.

Further afield, Norah Chan, Beatrice Chu, Grace Howard, Hilary Leung, Cheryl Lu, Willow Whitfield and Grace Zhong should be very highly commended for the impressive feat of achieving at least an average grade of 8.7 across all of their results.

Deputy Head Academic, Michael Smyth, commented:

‘We are very proud of the pupils in this cohort, who have coped admirably with the many challenges of the past three years. Beyond the splendid results themselves, there are some exceptional personal achievements that should be rightly celebrated. I am also delighted with such strong value-added results, both as a whole and on the individual level. This success was not achieved by luck, but by the hard work, dedication and flair of St Mary’s extraordinary pupils and teachers.

The girls’ approach to the exams in the summer set an excellent example to the younger years. I am sure that they will prove superb academic role models as they commence their A Level studies, as well as continuing to embody St Mary’s commitment to an all-round education by seizing the myriad of co-curricular opportunities of the Sixth Form.’

* Foundation Scholarships are offered to gifted and talented pupils who require financial support to join St Mary’s Calne.

PHOTOS: (in order of appearance)
The GCSE student cohort x4; Beatrice Chu; Hilary Leung