GCSE Results Day 2020

The 2020 GCSE results are unlike any before, as examinations were unable to take place due to the enforced closure of schools to most students as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the Government asked schools to award Centre Assessment Grades (CAGs) which were predictions, based on progress in lessons and mock exams, of the grades that students were likely to go on to achieve if they had taken the exams as normal. Results were then supposed to be quality assured by OFQUAL to ensure they were not too high or too low, a process we now know hasn’t worked well enough. As a result, the Government has decided that students will now be awarded their Centre Assessment Grades, which students received on Thursday 20th August.

The process underpinning our Centre Assessment Grades was extremely robust. Teachers submitted their predictions based on work that students had produced in lessons and, most importantly, their performance in mock exams. These predictions were then quality assured by Curriculum Leaders and Senior Leaders before being approved for submission by the Principal. Our progress and attainment figures generated from the predictions we submitted are in line with the three year average of our previous results. This has given us confidence that the results students have received are the results they would have been awarded if they had gone on to do their exams.

As in previous years, the majority of our students will now be able to progress to our Trust Partner, Oldham Sixth Form College.

We are proud to have a diverse curriculum, with students achieving results in the core subjects of English, Maths and Science, but also a variety of other subjects such as Business Studies and Psychology, with students also having the opportunity to study vocational subjects like Health & Social Care and Sport. This selection of subjects provides excellent foundations for progression to a wide range of post-16 courses and apprenticeships.

Mark Giles, Principal, said “This year has been a year no one could have predicted. I am extremely proud of the achievements of our students. Despite the absence of final exams, those who have worked hard will have received the qualifications they deserve. I must also recognise the outstanding work of my teaching and non-teaching staff. They have kept this school operating in a different way during the enforced closure and supported all students incredibly well. I want those students leaving us this year to know that once they have been part of Hathershaw, they will always be part of it and if you they need any further support, particularly after the year it has been, to contact us.”