Swansea top of the class for exam success

SWANSEA has come top of the class by helping more pupils than ever before get the qualifications they need to open doors to a bright future.

New statistics published by Welsh Government reveal Swansea pupils achieved their best ever GCSE results in 2014/15.

Results in Swansea improved at a significantly faster rate than seen across the rest of Wales.

In every measure it was top urban authority when compared to Wrexham, Cardiff, and Newport and among the top councils across Wales as a whole too.

Swansea was the best of all authorities in Wales in terms of pupils outperforming levels expected by Welsh Government indicators for the percentage of pupils gaining the equivalent of at least 5 GCESs at grades A* to C including language (English or  Welsh first language) and maths.

The success was widespread with pupils from all across the county enjoying record success and the gap between boys and girls narrowed too.  Results for pupils claiming free school meals were 10 per cent better than in 2014.

The achievement is being attributed to the hard work of school staff, improved attendance, improved sharing of best practice between schools, improved school environments, and better targeted challenge and support to schools to help them make the grade.

New statistics published by Welsh Government reveal Swansea pupils achieved their best ever GCSE results in 2014/15.

Results in Swansea improved at a significantly faster rate than seen across the rest of Wales.

In every measure it was top urban authority when compared to Wrexham, Cardiff, and Newport and among the top councils across Wales as a whole too.

Swansea was the best of all authorities in Wales in terms of pupils outperforming levels expected by Welsh Government indicators for the percentage of pupils gaining the equivalent of at least 5 GCESs at grades A* to C including language (English or  Welsh first language) and maths.

The success was widespread with pupils from all across the county enjoying record success and the gap between boys and girls narrowed too.  Results for pupils claiming free school meals were 10 per cent better than in 2014.

The achievement is being attributed to the hard work of school staff, improved attendance, improved sharing of best practice between schools, improved school environments, and better targeted challenge and support to schools to help them make the grade.

Jen Raynor, Cabinet member for Education, said: “Well done to the pupils, their parents, schools and the Council teams who support schools to success.

“Never has having qualifications of the right type and grade been more important to enable young people to access further and higher education, training, apprenticeships and work.

“The standard of education and support the pupils in Swansea were given, alongside their own hard work, means that this summer more of them attained the standards needed to pursue their career hopes and steer clear of poverty.

She added: “The challenge we now face is to continue our trend of improvement for the pupils who will be sitting those courses in years to come.

“That’s why we are working with schools, the Welsh Government and other partners to improve school environments, challenge and support better teaching and make the best use of resources available to give pupils the best chance of success.”

•           Swansea was the top urban authority for the percentage of pupils gaining at least 5 GCESs (and equivalent) at grades A* to C including language (English or Welsh first language) and Maths, and was the third best out of all 22 Welsh authorities. Swansea’s result has risen to 64.0 per cent compared to 59.1 per cent last year.

•           Swansea was the top urban authority for the percentage of pupils gaining 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) including English or Welsh first language, Maths. It went from 8th place overall in Wales to 5th on this result with 60.6 per cent in 2015 compared to 56 per cent in 2014.

•           Swansea was top urban authority and 5th in Wales overall for average points earned per pupil at GCSE where for example the Welsh Government counts an A* as 58 points. That was 578.9 in 2015 up from 559.6 in 2014. Swansea was the top urban authority, was above the Wales average and went from 10th to 4th overall in Wales for the average points gained by a pupil for their best eight qualifications.