Chesterfield's Brookfield School celebrates GCSE results and students to react to their grades

Brookfield Community School was a hive of activity on Thursday, August 25, as dozens of teenagers arrived shortly before 9am to collect that all important envelope and reveal their GCSE grades.

This year, the school on Chatsworth Road saw more than 60 per cent of its pupils achieve grade 5 or above – otherwise known as a strong pass – in English and Maths, while almost 60 per cent secured a grade 4 or above in both, a standard pass.

Figures also show that results at Brookfield, which is part of the Redhill Academy Trust, have improved significantly since 2019 – the last time formal examinations were sat due to disruption caused by the Covid pandemic.

Headteacher Keith Hirst said: “These results are a testament to the hard work of students, staff and parents, not just over the past two years, but over the past five years.

"Students have had to deal with an incredible amount of disruption since they started their courses. The way they applied themselves this year has been impressive and they deserve enormous credit for their results.”

In England, GCSEs are graded on a numerical system from 9 to 1, rather than from A* to G – a grading system which was brought in by the Government alongside a new GCSE curriculum for the 2017 school year.

LIVE: GCSE results day 2022 as students across Derbyshire find out their grades

As per guidance issued by the exams regulator Ofqual, a grade 9 is equivalent to a high A* when compared to the old system and an 8 is equivalent to a low A*, while a grade 2 is a lower E or F and a 1 is a lower F or G.

Among the top achievers at Brookfield on Thursday was Sylvie Kurcewicz who secured seven grade 9s in Art, Design Technology, Double Science, English Language, English Literature and History, a grade 8 in German and grade 7 in Maths.

Speaking of her results Sylvie, who plans to stay at Brookfield School Sixth Form, said: “I don’t know how to feel, I’m a bit in shock... I really didn’t think I’d done that good in my exams!”

Meanwhile Sylvie’s mum Wendy Kurcewicz said she was ‘very proud’ of her daughter as she expressed her admiration for the Year 11 cohort, stating they had ‘proved to themselves what great people they are’ for their determination to complete their schooling amid the pandemic.

Student Ruby Shipley was also pleasantly surprised with her results, having secured a grade 9 in Geography; three grade 8s in Biology, History and Spanish; and five grade 7s in Chemistry, English Language, English Literature, Mathematics and Physics.

“I’m shocked about my grade in Geography as I was getting 6s in all the mocks! All my results are higher than my mock grades,” said Ruby, who plans to continue her education into Sixth Form with studies in Biology, Spanish and Physics.

And Jim Thornton said he was ‘amazed’ with his grades, which included five 9s in History, English Language, English Literature and Geography; and four 8s in Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

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