The class of 2022 students at Arts & Media School Islington celebrate their achievement. Photo: Stephen Bainbridge

SCHOOL pupils were celebrating their GCSE results in Islington yesterday (Thursday), as they became the first group in three years to collect their grades having sat exams.

Thousands of teenagers in Islington nervously opened envelopes to find out how their efforts had gone after sitting exams in May and June.

In the Covid-hit past two years, 15- and 16-year-olds had been given grades by their teachers based on what they thought they would have achieved if they had sat exam papers.

City of London Academy Highgate students: Kadir Ayhan, Alexandra Jenkins-Eleftheriou, Shobon Roy and Umar Massoun Fernandez; below: Maya-Rose Komolafe

Shillo Nzeza at City of London Academy Highgate

Nationally grades dropped compared to 2021, but teenagers gathered at City of London Academy Highgate Hill for their results, buzzing with nervous excitement.

All smiles and high grades at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson. Front row, from left: Taaima, Sarina, Cllr Michelline Ngongo, Anisa, head of children’s service Jon Abbey, Laura and Shio; back row: Sadie, Zaynab, Kimi, Lola and Tarannum. Photo: Stephen Bainbridge

Maths whizz Maya-Rose Komolafe, 16, scored top grades in maths and further maths with two 8s – the equivalent of A*s in the previous grade boundaries before they were reformed in 2017.

Great grades for students at Central Foundation Boys’ School

“I feel OK, I worked very hard. It was difficult, there was a large portion of school time in quarantine, so I did the best I could,” she said.

Ms Komolafe, who said she wants to be an airline pilot, will be studying maths, economics and geography at A-level.
Alexandra Jenkins-Eleftheriou said she was surprised by her maths grades. “My maths was so much higher than I expected: I was expecting a 4 and I got an 8! I’m really happy, and I got what I needed to get into sixth form.”

At City of London Academy Islington 72 per cent of Year 11 students achieved English and Maths grades 4 and above

Principal at City of London Academy Highgate Hill, Prince Gennuh said: “We are delighted with the incredible sets of results achieved by all students. They have worked extremely hard; the challenges of the pandemic have continued but our students have shown a huge amount of resilience.”

Other City of London Corporation-run academies whose students got their grades were Islington in Prebend Street, where 72 per cent of Year 11 students got English and Maths grades 4 and above, and Highbury Grove, which had 62 per cent.

Over at Central Foundation Boys’ School, 72 per cent of students got a grade 5 or better, equivalent to the old B grade. Reflecting on their grades against the disruption of the pandemic, headteacher Jamie Brownhill said: “I am sure that the character that the students have developed and displayed through this period will serve them well as they embark upon the next stage of their lives.”