Students at Bristol Grammar School have achieved the best GCSE results in the school’s history.

While 100 per cent of students at BGS achieved the recognised ‘pass rate’ of five grades A-C including English and Maths, the telling results lay at the upper end of the scale where 80 per cent of all the grades achieved were either A* or A.

Of the 145 students who took exams this year, two thirds of them achieved 8 As or higher and 17 individuals notched up at least 10 A*s.

A* was the most common grade in fifteen of the twenty-six subjects available for examination across the Sciences, Humanities and Arts.

Against a national decline in the study of Maths and Science at university level, 90 per cent of those taking Maths GCSE at BGS achieved A* or A, the majority of whom will be continuing to study Maths, Further Maths or Science at ‘A’ level.

In other areas of the curriculum, 10 students took a voluntary GCSE in Dance – offered for the first time this year - which involved a commitment to additional lessons twice a week outside of normal school hours.

Modern and Classical Languages also performed well with A*s or As for 94 per cent of those taking Russian and 100 per cent of those taking Latin.

Headmaster Roderick MacKinnon said:

“Although we’re used to seeing our students excel year by year, there is no doubt that this year’s GCSE results are exceptional and I am obviously delighted for the children but also extremely proud of my staff.

“Our teachers have worked particularly hard at developing specific learning strategies to meet the needs of every boy and girl, which means recognising their individual gifts and talents and planning lessons accordingly. There is no place for ‘one size fits all’. In addition, all our teachers have a passion for their subjects and manage to communicate that in an infectious way to the students.

“This combination of excellent teachers, hard-working students and hugely supportive parents has proven to be a powerful one and has produced these outstanding results.”

The high-performing year group, which is described as ‘tight knit’ and ‘supportive’, also included 22 students who scored 100 per cent in 28 individual examinations, across 11 different subjects.

Head of Year 11, Dr Jon Stone, commented:

“This cohort of Year 11 students has been characterised by its ambition and determination to do well so I am not surprised that there have been such fantastic individual and corporate achievements.