Girls Set New GCSE Pass Rates

Records were broken as Bolton School Girls’ Division pupils celebrated an excellent crop of GCSE results. Setting new pass rates, 78% of girls achieved at least ten 9-4 (or A*-C) grades, 70% of girls came away with at least ten 9-5 (or A*-B) grades and 74% achieved at least five 9-7 (or A*/A) grades. 

Overall, 100% of girls achieved at least five 9-4 (or A*-C) grades, 99% of grades were in the 9-4 (A*-C) category and the percentage pass at grades 9/8 or A* was 45.8%, commensurate with last year’s pass rates. An impressive 82.5% of papers were graded at 6/B or above. There was a 68% pass rate at 9-7 (or A*A) grades and a 46% pass rate at 9-8 (or A*A^). Across the Sciences, girls performed particularly well with 71% of all Chemistry grades at 9/8, 58% of Biology grades at 9/8 and 52% of all Physics grades being at 9/8. There was also much success in languages with 64% of all French grades being at 9/8 and in Classics, 81% of all Greek and Latin grades were at 9 or 8. For the first year, girls studied Mandarin as an extra-curricular option and three took this after school, achieving a grade 6, 7 and 8 respectively. 

There was much individual success as 13 girls came away with GCSEs that were all graded at 9/8 or A*/A^. A further 26 girls achieved eight or more grades at 9/8/A*.  Seven girls got at least the full set of nine 9s, an incredible achievement given only 837 pupils achieve this across the country. 

Many girls also juggled serious extra-curricular achievements whilst achieving highly. Anna Phillips, who plays football for Man City and England and trains five times a week and plays matches, secured 10 good GCSE passes. High achieving Olivia Stubbs, who achieved grades of 9/8/A* in eight of her subjects, competes in eventing an international level. Joyce Chan and Yang Yang achieved exceptionally, both having joined Bolton School at the start of Y10 for their GCSE studies from Hong Kong and China respectively. Alice Higginbottom moves on to Elmhurst Ballet School and has auditioned for the English National Ballet and Jessica Curtis-Walker heads off to ArtsEd in London to study music and theatre; both achieved highly. Two Y11 girls, Nabilah Thagia and Shreya Kamath, celebrated outstanding exam results as well as receiving Arkwright Engineering Scholarships. 

A delighted Headmistress, Sue Hincks, said:

We are delighted to see so many girls doing so well in achieving their target grades. This is a result of hard work and high levels of motivation on their part as well as the support of teachers and other staff. The girls now have a springboard in to the next stage of their lives.