09:00AM, Thursday 21 August 2014
The big day is here. Across East Berkshire and South Bucks, thousands of GCSE students will be getting their results today.
This live blog will be updated throughout the day with all the latest results news from Maidenhead, Slough, Windsor, Burnham, Twyford and the surrounding area, bringing you pass rates and interesting stories from our schools.
We also want to know your memories of getting your results. How did you feel on the day? Were you surprised by your results? How did you celebrate?
Tweet @maidenheadads or @expressseries with the #gcsememories hashtag or comment on the Maidenhead Advertiser or Slough Express & Windsor Express Facebook pages.
5.16pm Here is a slideshow of pictures from our photographers who have been out and about across the news patch today.
4.11pm SLOUGH:
Upton Court
Bright students achieved record-breaking results as it achieved a 100 per cent A* to C pass rate, including English and maths.
"I am really surprised I got this result because I was not expecting it," said Hyder Abbas whose results included eight A*'s. "It was quite tense."
The 16-year-old will be staying at the school to study for his A-levels and fulfil his ambitions of studying medicine.
Commenting on the 100 per cent pass rate, principal Mercedes Hernandez Estrada said: "As a school that's what you dream for your students. We could not be happier and they could not be happier."
The A* to A pass rate was 53.5 per cent with 155 students sitting the exams.
St Bernards
A trip to Reading Festival was a reward for some hard-working students who celebrated their results in style at St Bernard's Catholic Grammar School in Langley.
The school, in Langley Road, achieved a 98 per cent pass rate of five A* to C grades including English and maths - equalling last year's high standard.
Among the high-flyers was Ella Hastings who scored an impressive five A*'s, four A's and a B.
"It is kind of two years and it all boils down to this so its crazy," said the 16-year-old who was going to this year's Reading Festival with her school friends.
"This morning was stressful, lots of tears."
Headteacher Michael Stimpson said: "This is a splendid set of results. I am especially pleased with those students who achieved above predictions this year."
Langley Grammar
The future continues to look bright for pupils as the school recorded a 100 per cent A* to C pass rate, including English and maths, for the second year running.
Among those celebrating at the school, in Reddington Drive, Langley, was aspiring investment banker Aakash Gupta who achieved an impressive 12 A* grades, one A and one B.
"I am quite proud because all the hard-work I have put in has paid off and Langley Grammar is a great school," he said.
Overall the school achieved a 98.5 per cent pass rate while 69.3 per cent of GCSE students achieved either an A* or A grade.
Headteacher John Constable, said: "The students have done exceptionally well, it is a testament to the hard work and the support and encouragement of the staff. We are extremely pleased at a very good set of results."
Langley Academy
Results day 'felt like a dream' for Umer Hussain.
The 16-year-old gained five As, three Bs and a C and he now looks forward to sixth form life where he will continue to study at the school, in Langley Road.
"From the moment my last exam finished I just wanted to get my results straight away," he said.
"I feel quite elated, it is a great relief. It feels like a dream."
The Langley Academy enjoyed its 'best ever' GCSE results as it secured a 59 per cent A* to C pass rate including English and maths.
Executive principle of The Langley Academy Trust, Rhodri Bryant, said he was thrilled and delighted with the results.
"It is a testament to the staff and students and the support of parents," he added.
4.01pm SONNING:
Will Batt, Oliver Hague, Joe Bright and James Temple, all 16 years old, achieved a total of 38A*s and seven As between them.
“I feel fantastic,” said Twyford resident, James. “I’m really happy that my hard work has paid off.”
An impressive 100 per cent of students obtained five or more A*-C grades including English and maths, and 100 per cent of students achieved five or more A*-C grades.
A total of 99.1 per cent of all GCSE grades were A*-C.
The school in Sonning Lane also achieved a record number of students achieving A*-Bs which stands at 93.2 per cent.
Out of the 93 pupils who sat the exams, 22 achieved straight As and A*s.
Sonning resident Aidan Hood netted 11A*s and was off to Reading Festival to celebrate.
Headmaster Michael Windsor said: “I’m delighted that our pupils will be heading off to the Reading Festival in good spirits, having achieved a superb set of results.
"They have given themselves a great platform for success at A Level and beyond and their achievements are well-earned, based as they are on hard work and commitment.
"Our pupils have received tremendous support from their parents and teachers, which has allowed them to fulfil their potential in these exams.
"I warmly congratulate all our GCSE candidates and hope that the weather stays dry for them over the next few days!"
1.50pm WINDSOR:
Students and staff at The Windsor Boys School in Maidenhead Road are celebrating an 80 per cent GCSE pass rate with A* to C grades.
But the key figure of five or more passes with English and maths was less than expected at 59 per cent.
Headteacher Gavin Henderson is concerned that changes made to the English qualification this year may have contributed to this and said he means to carry out a thorough analysis of the results.
He said: "Some pupils getting A and A* grades elsewhere only got Ds for English."
But there was good news as well.
More than 25 students gained mostly A grades including Constantine Zahariev who was awarded eight A* and two A grades and Markus Mannerkoski who got seven A*, two A and two B grades.
Sam Butler, Aiden Rogers and Arthur Smith all got 5 A* and five A grades and one B.
Mr Henderson said: "Congratulations are due to all the students who performed really well."
1.02pm SLOUGH:
More A and A* grades were achieved by students at Beechwood School in Long Readings Lane, Slough than ever before as with 49 per cent collected five GCSEs including English and Maths at grades A*-C.
Its executive headteacher Kathleen Higgins said the school exceeded many of its targets, which was very pleasing.
"Well done to the Beechwood young men and women and the staff who have worked so hard to enable them to secure really solid results," she said.
"We are also very appreciative of all the support families have given.
"It has been a real team effort."
12.40pm MAIDENHEAD:
Principal James Wilding said he was 'absolutely thrilled' with the Claires Court Girls School GCSE results this morning.
The school in College Avenue saw 92.6 per cent of girls achieve five A*-C grades and 70.4 per cent achieve five A*-Cs including English and maths, both up on last year.
"I was shaking and I couldn't read properly," said 16-year-old Joy Blumenthal from Marlow, who got an A*, four As and five Bs.
Freya Hulse was delighted with her results, two A*s, six As and two Bs.
She said: “As I opened the envelope and saw A*s I thought 'that’s good!' I like science and want to be a vet or a doctor so will be doing Biology and Chemistry at A Level.”
There was also a rise for the school in the percentage of A* and A grades, up last year from 28.4 per cent to 36.7 per cent.
"From our point of view, we are really satisfied with the hard work of the students and the hard work of the teachers being rewarded," said Mr Wilding.
"It is nice to see when students' excellent work pays off."
He added he was really pleased that so many girls are going on to do A-level maths and sciences.
12.35pm SUNNINGDALE:
This year saw another record breaking set of results for Charters School in Charters Road based with an overall pass rate of 99.6 per cent of students achieving five or more A* to E grades. Overall there was an 84.2 per cent A* to C result, and 80 per cent achieved five or more A* to C including English and maths.
12.20pm WINDSOR:
72 per cent of students at Windsor Girls' School achieved 5A*-C including English and maths.
Headteacher Gill Labrum said: "I am delighted and very proud of the achievements of all of our students."
Among the success stories were Gina Riggs (3A* 6A), Laura Marshall (8A* 3A), Abiola Ayodamola (6A* 3A) and Ayesha Ahmed (4A* 5A).
Ayesha wants to be a dentist.
She said: "I always wanted to do medicine and combine it with science. Dentistry has turned out to be just the thing."
12.07pm MAIDENHEAD:
Desborough College in Shoppenhangers Road saw 57 per cent of its pupils take home five GCSEs at grades A*-C including English and maths
63 per cent got at least five results at grades A*-C.
Headteacher Paul Frazer said he was very happy with the results
"It's very positive, particularly English, maths and science results," said Mr Frazer.
"The staff and boys all worked very hard and a lot are coming into ther sixth form so I'm pleased with the outcome."
12.01pm SLOUGH
Slough & Eton College pupil Asha Hassan, who got six A*s and six As, said she felt 'incredible' and was not expecting to receive such high grades.
The 16-year-old, who moved to Slough three years ago, said: "I was really nervous and did not get any sleep last night."
Overall, 57 per cent of pupils achieved five A*-C including english and maths with 74 per cent achieving five A*-C grades.
Headteacher, Paul McAteer, said: "I would like to congratulate the pupils for their hard work and commitment in achieving these results and also staff that went the extra mile to help them."
11.54am WARGRAVE:
Nervous students arrived at The Piggott School this morning to pick up their GCSE results.A total of 86 per cent of students at the school in Twyford Road achieved at least five A*-C grades, with 74 per cent achieving at least five A*-C grades including English and Maths.
Retiring head teacher Hilary Winter said she was 'absolutely thrilled' with the results.
"The students have done extremely well," she said.
"These results are a reflection of the hard work, determination and commitment of all our staff, students and their parents."
Out of the 191 students entered for more than 1800 exams, 17 brainy youngsters achieved 10 or more A*/A grades.
One of those was 16-year-old Maddie Weavers from Charvil who opened her envelope to find she had achieved 10A*s and 2As.
"I thought I was going to be sick, major butterflies and my legs were all jelly," said Maddie of how nervous she was when she opened her results.
"I couldn't focus my eyes to start with as my hands were so shaky."
Archie Withers is one of many pupils set to head to Reading Festival this weekend to celebrate.
The 16-year-old bagged seven A*s and four As.
Also heading to the three-day festival is Georgia Campbell, 16, from Charvil, who said she is looking forward to seeing Queens of the Stone Age, Arctic Monkeys and Blink 182.
"I'm happy because I thought I was going to do much worse," said Georgia, who achieved eight A*s and three As.
11.42am SUNNINGHILL:
Marish Senior School in Kings Road, Sunninghill, saw a brilliant 100 per cent pass rate this year. All students who took GCSE exams received at least 5 A* to C grades, with 51 per cent of those being A* to A grades and 82 per cent were A* to B.
11.40am ASCOT:
St George's School in Wells Lane, Ascot, had some great GCSE results with 96 per cent of exams graded A* to C, 78 per cent of which were A*, A and B. 51 per cent of all exams taken were graded A* and A.
11.34am MAIDENHEAD:
A total of 31 per cent of students achieved at least 3 As or A*s at Furze Platt Senior School in Furze Platt Road.
The number of pupils who achieved five A*-C grades including English and maths was 66 per cent and 17 of the 193 students achieved all As and A*s.
This includes one of the school's highest achieving boys Luis Razief Avellano-Khan who nipped back from Reading Festival to collect his results.
The 16-year-old from Rutland Avenue achieved 9 A* grades and three A grades, which he hope will help to him pursue a career in medicine.
Bath Road resident Anna Kohn, 16, gained 12 A* grades.
Headteacher Tanya White added: "This is the most important day of their year.
"The pupils have worked very hard so I am really proud of them."
11.25am BURNHAM:
Celebrations are underway after a school in Burnham had their best GCSE results day for a long time.
Burnham Grammar School in Hogfair Lane had a 100 per cent pass rate, with 99.6 per cent of exam entries being given grades A*-C, and 61 per cent of students being awarded five or more grades A*-A.
Sixteen-year-old student Isabel Kaushal says she is ‘over the moon’ after being awarded 10 A* grades and one grade B while Arjan Dhoot, 16, who plays in the regional hockey league, has been awarded 11 A* grades and one A,
Headteacher Dr Andy Gillespie said: “These are our best GCSE results by some measure for a long time, which is absolutely fantastic.”
“There are lots of happy faces around."
11.17am MAIDENHEAD:
Altwood School headteacher Neil Dimbleby was pleased with his student's grades, as 70 per cent of the exams returned grade C or better.
However, he said he was 'devastated' by 'grade boundary games' that affected English results for the school in Altwood Road.
He said he felt 51 per cent of students achieving five A*-C grades including English and maths could have been about 15 per cent higher.
"The rest of our results were great," he said.
"These students have worked really hard and the staff have worked really hard.
"The people that have been impacted are the young people who have got a grade they shouldn't have got and that's sad."
Mr Dimbleby said the school would appeal for a review of the results from the AQA English exams.
11.15am SONNING
Fantastic results were celebrated in Sonning this morning.
A total of 99.1 per cent of students at Reading Blue Coat School obtained five or more A*-C grades including English and maths, and 100 per cent of students achieved five or more A*-C grades.
The school in Sonning Lane also achieved a record number of students achieving A*-Bs which stands at 93.2 per cent.
11.10am MAIDENHEAD:
Of all GCSE's taken by pupils at the school in Farm Road, 36 per cent were marked at A or A* grade.
Deputy headteacher Matthew Henshaw has partly attributed Newlands Girl's School success to its teachers who go the extra mile including by offering extra tuition after school and in the holidays.
Overall 74 per cent of pupils received five A*- C grades including English and maths.
Three of the 182 pupils receiving their GCSE results achieved 11 A*s and another girl achieved 10 A* grades and an A.
Mr Henshaw said: "The girls have been great - they have taken it all on board."
"We are really pleased and really delighted.
"You can see the massive number of teachers that turn up to see the girls because they like to see the smiles on their faces.
"This is one of the best days from a teachers point of view."
10.54am MAIDENHEAD:
The last results are still to come for some of the boys at Desborough College in Shoppenhangers Road, but headteacher Paul Frazer said he was very happy with the results they had so far.
77 per cent of its pupils collected A*-C grades in Maths, while 73 per cent hit that mark for English.
"It's very positive, particularly English, maths and science results," said Mr Frazer.
"The staff and boys all worked very hard and a lot are coming into the sixth form so I'm pleased with the outcome."
10.48am WARGRAVE:
Archie Withers, Maddie Weavers, Lydia Blythe and Imogen Lawlor from The Piggott School celebrate straights As and A*s.
10.09am SLOUGH:
Slough and Eton CE Business and Enterprise College saw 57 per cent achieve five A*-C grades including English and maths, and 74 per cent get five A*-C grades overall.
16-year-old Asha Hassan from Slough and Eton got 6 A*s and 6 As pic.twitter.com/xTIIyTIKoP
— Hannah Crouch (@hannahcrouch_BM)
August 21, 2014
9.46am COX GREEN:
Cox Green is once again celebrating its successes at GCSE. For the second year running we will be in the top 25% of schools nationally.
— Cox Green School (@CoxGreenSchool)
August 21, 2014
70 per cent of results were A* to C, including English and Maths at the school in Highfield Lane.
Headteacher, Heidi Swidenbank, said: “I am absolutely delighted with each and every one of our students. They have demonstrated great commitment to their studies and staff and parents alike have enabled them to reach their aspirations.
9.38am MAIDENHEAD: Reporter Michael Owens is at Altwood School where results are 51 per cent 5A*-C including English and maths & 70 per cent 5A*-C.
9.27am SLOUGH: Reporter Hannah Crouch is at St Joseph’s Catholic High School where 73 per cent of students achieved five A*-C grades.
Lots of smiling students at St Joseph's pic.twitter.com/b5TMdITqV2
— ciran stapleton (@ciranstapleton)
August 21, 2014
9.19am MARLOW: Sir William Borlase's Grammar School has achieved exceptional results this year, bucking the press suggestion trends that results were likely to be down nationally.
Over 70 per cent of exams taken, gained an A* or A grade, (33.2 per cent A*, 37.7 per cent A grade), and 35 students gained straight A grades or better. The school also had three students, Sakshi Soni, Tom Brockwell and Olivia Seifert, who achieved straight A* students.
Headmaster Dr Peter Holding commented: “We are absolutely delighted with the outstanding results. Despite all the national headlines warning of huge fluctuations at school level this year, we have seen a consistent pattern of success. This is a great testament to the immense hard work and dedication of our staff, and the efforts and hard study of our students.
“They all deserve praise and we are really proud of all of them.”
9.15am SLOUGH: The first results in from the town are for Herschel Grammar School, where 98.3 per cent of pupils achieved A*-C grades. The percentage of pupils with A*-A grades is 65 per cent, up from 58 per cent last year.
16-year-old Fiona Tsang from Herschel Grammar says she is 'really happy' with her nine A*s and one A pic.twitter.com/L9hMGviqXn
— Hannah Crouch (@hannahcrouch_BM)
August 21, 2014
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