Swansea celebrates best ever GCSE results

The summer 2015 examinations are the best ever results for Swansea.

The figures show 22.8% of city pupils gained A* and A grades in their exams, which compares very well to 19.2% of those in Wales as a whole.

Initial indications show that the Level 2 Threshold with Language/Maths has improved from 59.1% in 2014 to around 62.3% in 2015.  This is the largest annual increase seen for this measure in Swansea.  This indicator is the most important performance measure for key stage 4.  To achieve this indicator, students need to achieve at least five C grades or higher at GCSE (or equivalent), including mathematics and English and/or Welsh First Language.

More than 90% of students achieved the higher grades of A* to C in 24 different subjects – up from 19 in 2014.

Meanwhile, the top grades of A* and A were awarded to over a third of all entrants in 26 subjects – up from 21 subjects last year.

Cllr Rob Stewart, Swansea Council Leader, said: “I’m delighted with the GCSE results and I’m proud of the efforts of our schools and pupils.

“Along with last week’s A-Level results, we have some of the strongest education outcomes in Wales.

“We’re helping pupils to achieve their potential and we’re producing excellent students for university who, in turn, will produce the business leaders of tomorrow.”

A total of 99.2% of GCSE examination entries in Swansea were passed (grades A* to G). This is the same as 2014, and tops the Welsh pass rate for 2015 of 98.7%.

Swansea GCSE students also surpassed their counterparts in terms of the number of them gaining the higher grades in full course subjects. The figures show 76.8% of entrants here scored A* to C grades, a rise on last year’s figure of 73.4% and well above the comparable figure for all-Wales for 2015 of 66.6%.

In Swansea, a total of 17,181 full course GCSE entries in summer 2015 were made in 58 different subject/syllabuses. In addition, there were 2,225 entries in 15 different subjects for GCSE short courses.

In no fewer than 51 of the 73 different subjects/syllabuses, all entrants from Swansea schools achieved grades A* to G – a 100% pass rate. A pass rate of 90% or better was also recorded for 20 other subjects.

In the key core subjects of English Language and Mathematics, the Swansea overall results are also well above the national results.

For Mathematics, the Swansea results were A*-A 23.9%, A*-C 68.5% and A*-G 99.3%. The equivalent all-Wales figures for 2015 for Maths are 9.9%, 47.5% and 96.5%.

For English Language, the Swansea results were A*-A 15.7%, A*-C 64.4% and A*-G 99.5%. The equivalent all-Wales figures for 2015 for English are 11.9%, 59.7% and 99.1%.

For English Literature, the Swansea results were A*-A 22.8%, A*-C 83.3% and A*-G 99.7%. The equivalent all-Wales figures for 2015 for English are 17.5%, 76.6% and 99.4%.

For the 465 students who entered GCSE exams in the three separate sciences (physics, chemistry and biology), the results were particularly pleasing. In physics, 95.7% of Swansea students attained A*-C grades (92% for Wales). In chemistry the results were 97.8% in Swansea (92.1% Wales) and in biology the results in Swansea were 97.6% (90.4% Wales).

Excellent results were also recorded in History and Geography. In History, with 771 entries, 36.4% had A*/A and 80.2% attained A*-C (Wales 28% and 67.8%). Geography had 755 entries, with 22.9% with A*/A and 72.3% with A*-C (Wales 22.8% and 66.6%).

Welsh Second Language results for the 409 students taking the GCSE full course show that 37.7% had the top A* and A  grades whilst 95.4% had grades A* to C.  These are astounding results and compare to 30.2% and 79.4% for Wales.

Welsh First Language results for the 222 entries show that 25.7% had the top A* and A  grades whilst 83.3% had grades A* to C.  These are astounding results and compare to 15.0% and 73.9% for Wales.

French has also performed particularly well this year, with 337 entries.  38.3% attained the top A* and A grades, whilst 84.6% received grades A* to C.  The Wales equivalents were 33.7% and 76%.

With 126 entries, Spanish results showed 44.4% of Swansea students attained grades A* and A and 88.1% had grades A* to C.  This compares to 33.0% and 73.5% for Wales.

With 341 entries, Information Technology results showed 46.3% of Swansea students attained grades A* and A and 93.3% had grades A* to C.  This compares to 25.1% and 73.3% for Wales.

Sport/PE Studies is another subject with good results this year for the 513 students who took this subject at GCSE. 28.1% attained the top A* and A grades whilst 78.0% attained grades A*-C.  The all-Wales equivalent figures were 26.6% and 76.4%

With 180 entries, Business Studies results showed 22.8% of Swansea students attained grades A* and A and 81.1%