Norfolk goes above the national average in GCSE gold standard

Added: 20/10/2008
Category: Norfolk County Council

Norfolk has beaten the national average in the proportion of children gaining five GCSE grades A* to C including English and maths, for the first time.

Provisional figures published today reveal that 47.5% of the county's GCSE students reached the standard, compared to 47.2% nationally.

The results represent a 2.3 percentage point (ppt) increase in the number of young people reaching the measure, compared to 0.9ppt nationally.

Rosalie Monbiot, Norfolk County Council Cabinet Member for Children's Services, said: “We are thrilled to have gone above the national average on the number of pupils gaining five GCSE grades A* to C, including English and maths.

“We want Norfolk's youngsters to be aspirational people with high levels of achievement and this shows that we are making real progress in raising attainment and ambition. We have invested huge resources in our schools over the last three years and it is fantastic to see that investment is paying off.”

Lisa Christensen, Director of Children's Services for Norfolk County Council, said: “These are record results for Norfolk and it is brilliant news that the county's performance at GCSE is continuing to improve.

“Attainment in English and maths has risen significantly and we have been placing a real emphasis on improving results in these areas, with our support to schools focusing closely on these core subjects.

“We know there is always more to do and we will continue to work with schools to help raise attainment and ambition still further.”

At A Level Norfolk has also closed the gap on the average point score per entry with the average score 203.7 in 2007 and 205.9 in 2008 (up 2.2 points).

This compares to an increase of 1.6 points nationally, with the score up from 207.5 to 209.1.