Council leader pleased with GCSE grades in Peterborough

Councillor John Holdich, leader of the council and cabinet member for education, skills and university, said: “These official results reveal the proportion of pupils in Peterborough achieving at least five GCSEs at A* to C including English and mathematics is 50 per cent.

“This is the same level as in 2014 and we have narrowed the gap to the national average for this year by one per cent.

“It is important to say these results reflect a great deal of hard work by both students and teachers, since the pass mark in examinations this year is higher than it has been before.

“However, following a number of years of improving grades at GCSE level, we recognise there is work to be done and we will continue to support and challenge all city schools as we want our results to advance each year.

“Attainment in English and maths results are a priority. Progress in maths has improved by 6 per cent from last year, which is a good improvement and we will now push for it to close on the national average.

“These results also show we are in line with the national average for progress in English. This is an excellent achievement given that more than a quarter of the students taking these exams had English as a second or other language.”