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GCSE success for Sheldon students 
Pupils at Sheldon School in Chippenham are celebrating outstanding GCSE results. 
 
40% of pupils achieved the English baccalaureate.  74% of pupils achieved five or more A* to C grades.  64% achieved the national benchmark of five A* to C grades including English and maths.
 
The most impressive improvement has been the proportion achieving the new English baccalaureate (or EBacc), which has risen from 27% to 40%.  The national average last year was 15% and the Wiltshire average was 18%.
 
Headteacher Gerard MacMahon said: “We are pleased with these results: a very large number of pupils can be extremely proud of their achievements.  The jump in the numbers achieving the EBacc to well over twice the county and national averages reflects our challenging academic curriculum.  For example, the vast majority achieved a GCSE pass in a foreign language – which has become increasingly rare in English schools.” 
 
“The excellent results in English and mathematics mean that two thirds of our pupils have passes in both and are very well placed to continue their studies. We expect to have over 200 students starting their A level courses at Sheldon next week.”
Top achievers
Liam Hammond: 9 A*s and 2 As
Melissa Jones: 9 A*s and 1 A
Jemima Love: 9 A*s and 1 A
David Hanks: 8 A*s and 2 As
Isaac Hiorns: 8 A*s and 2 As
Joseph Emsley: 7 A*s and 3 As
Rhys Brown: 7 A*s and 2 As
Stephen Hayes: 7 A*s and 2 As
Jack Ryan: 7 A*s and 2 As
Charlotte Scoynes: 7 A*s and 1 A
Isaac Akalanne: 6 A*s and 4 As
Madelene Cooper: 6 A*s and 3 As
Alan Beavan: 5 A*s and 5 As
Holly Suttle: 5 A*s and 5 As
Bronte Jones: 5 A*s and 4 As
David Knight: 5 A*s and 3 As
Nina Parsons: 5 A*s and 3 As
Nadia Gaboc: 5 A*s and 2 As
Eva Heimpel: 5 A*s and 2 As
 
Why are national pass rates rising?
 
There is always a lot of publicity about rising national pass rates at GCSE.  There is often a suggestion that exams are getting easier.
 
The real situation is more complex.  A big change in the last few years has been many schools entering large numbers of middle to lower ability pupils for vocational courses with generous GCSE equivalences.  This helps to inflate their school results with "cheaper" GCSEs.  The introduction of the EBacc is a way of cutting through this policy to see how many pupils achieve in traditional academic subjects.
 
A side effect of this practice is that fewer less-able children are being entered for GCSEs, so of course the pass rate rises.  Because the exam boards adjust marks to ensure the pass rate doesn't rise significantly, it is possible that in some subjects it has become harder to achieve a C grade.
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