Huge Leap for GCSES
Borough Prasied Over its growth

IMPROVEMENTS: The GCSE pass rate in Halton now exceeds the North West and
England average.  Cheshirenews.co.uk

HALTON has been singled out for Government praise after achieving the most im­proved GCSE results in the whole country
Figures released by the De­partment of Children, Schools and Families show the number of pupils gaining five A*-C grades in the borough increased from 52.6% in 2005-6 to 61.1% for the year 2006-7 - an increase of 8.5%.
Government chiefs say the im­provement is the biggest in the country, with the borough's res­ults now considered above av­erage for the North West and England as a whole.

 

 


A Government spokeswoman said: 'Halton was actually the local authority with the greatest percentage increase for five good A*-C grades between 2006-7 at GCSE in England.'
Schools Minister Jim Knight lauded the combined efforts of teachers, pupils and parents for the improvement.
He said: These excellent esults demonstrate the hard work and commitment put in on a daily basis by teachers, pupils, and parents in Halton.
'Nationally the proportion of pupils getting five good GCSEs rose by 1.8% to 60.3%.
'Everyone involved in educa­tion in Halton today should be really proud of these results.

 

We are determined to build on this progress and to put an even greater emphasis on the pro­gress of each individual.
'GCSEs are a vital stepping stone to further study and the world of work, and I'm pleased to see that more pupils are mak­ing the grade.'
The results also show that the percentage of Halton pupils leaving school with no GCSEs fell from 3.1% to 1.9%.
However, boys in the borough are still lagging behind girls - in keeping with the UK trend.
While 56.5% of boys collected
five A*-C grades, their female
Counterparts chalked up 65.8%.

Article and Pictures Courtesy of The Cheshire news