'Day of pride' celebrated at Audenshaw School with strong results across a broad curriculum

The Principal of Audenshaw School has described the GCSE results of his ‘pioneering’ Year 11 students as ‘an achievement that will set the path for future generations’.

Having had their foundation years disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and their GCSE years impacted by strike action, Pete Taylor says the high level of attainment at the school is indicative of the resilience, confidence and dedication built into the pupils. 

Students achieving Grade 4 or above in English was 71 per cent, and 73 per cent in Maths. Students achieving Grade 5 or above was 55 per cent in English and 52 per cent in Maths. There was also a more than 10 per cent increase in Grades 7 to 9 in Maths, which is indicative of bucking the national trend for the subject.

Alongside core subjects, there has also been strong performance in French, Music, Biology, Photography, Chemistry, Food, Physics and Design.

To mark results day, pupils, parents and carers were welcomed to the school to celebrate.

Mr Taylor said: “It is a day of pride here at Audenshaw School. A strong set of results have been achieved through the partnership of our students, as well as our community of staff, parents, carers, the trust board and more.

“This is a cohort of young people who, in our opinion, are extremely unique and special to us all. They’re pioneers as the first cohort of students who’ve returned to full GCSE exams in four years and as such, they’re resetting the marker on subject coverage, assessment and grading, meaning future generations will benefit from their efforts. As a year group, they have experienced significant disruption to their learning journey but have taken on every challenge thrown at them, so to achieve such fantastic results should be a proud moment for them.

“It’s also a proud day for myself, marking the completion of my first full academic year in role. It’s been a challenging year, navigating strike action with the highest student population we’ve ever had, making this brilliant set of results even more impressive. Today also ties in with a full graded inspection in line with the new, more challenging framework, in which we were graded Good in all areas. I’m in the privileged position of being able to work with these students and staff every day, and my aim moving forward is to ensure future generations of students continue to achieve excellence in all they do, with clear objectives in place to continue providing a great place to learn.

“Good to luck to all our students in their future endeavours and always remember – Carpe Diem.”

Phillip Murphy, Vice Principal of Achievement of Standards, said: “Today’s results are a fantastic example of strong attainment across a broad and balanced curriculum, with a particularly impressive performance across a range of subjects.

“Full course content hasn’t been in place since 2019 for subjects including English Literature, Geography and History, while some subjects like Art and Design have had to go back to exams for the first time. While we await progress data to gain a full picture of just what we’ve achieved as a school, we have every confidence that our students can move onto their next chosen pathway with results they can be extremely proud of.”