STUDENTS at Wellington School have achieved an impressive 50 per cent A*-A (grades 9-7) at GCSE with 29 per cent A* (grades 9-8) and almost half of the candidates gaining five or more A*-A (grades 9-7).

Headmaster Henry Price said: "This is a really pleasing set of GCSE results of which the pupils can be justifiably proud. While the combination of letters and numbers for grades may be a little confusing this year, the headline figures are excellent with some outstanding individual performances from pupils.

"There has been much talk about the rigour of the new GCSEs but whether our pupils have taken these or the equally rigorous IGCSEs, they have performed extremely well across a range of subjects."

Nearly three-quarters of results at Wellington scored A*-B (grades 9-6) across a curriculum that includes more than 20 subjects from core subjects such as English, Mathematics and the Sciences, to six ancient or modern languages, as well as creative subjects such as Art, Music and Drama.

"As well as congratulating the pupils for their efforts, I am very grateful to my staff across all departments for their dedication.

"While we have some very able pupils, not everyone finds the GCSE process easy and the all-round support that staff give throughout the year is immeasurable, not only in the classroom, but also on the pastoral side, cajoling or encouraging as required.

"Finally, I would like to thank all the parents who also soak up a lot of stress before and during the examination period – I hope they will sleep better tonight."