The Nobel School’s headteacher has praised students for a “phenomenal performance” after GCSE results shot up by more than 10 per cent.

The number of students getting five grades at A*-C including English and maths was 65 per cent this year – 11 per cent up on 2013 and 19 per cent higher than 2012.

The Stevenage school also recorded A* or As in 25 per cent of all students’ grades.

Headteacher Martyn Henson, who took over at Nobel in September last year, said: “The vast majority students will be returning to the sixth form and among them there have been some truly outstanding individual performances, particularly at the highest levels. We are especially pleased with the number of students who have achieved the highest A* and A grades – 25 per cent of all grades, an improvement of eight per cent on last year.

“The high quality of teaching at Nobel has meant that progress for all students across the board has significantly improved. Special mention should be made of the English department where 80 per cent of students made three levels of progress, expected nationally, and a staggering 46 per cent made four levels of progress – above national expectations.

“This is a phenomenal performance by the students supported by excellent teachers, support staff and parents. GCSE results, like the A-level ones, are significantly up on last year and underline the recognition from Ofsted that Nobel is a ‘good’ school – we are now determined to be an ‘outstanding’ school very soon.”

The head praised the outstanding performances of Ellie Ward, Bobby Banks, Lewis Day, Benjamin Gray, Bethany Hobbs, Claire Holtham, Philip Snoad, Chloe Saunders and Michael Tsang all who achieved a clean sweep of A* and A grades.

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