There were a lot of happy students at The Elms Academy in Lambeth, South London, this morning as GCSE results were published nationally.

This saw one standout student, Zijiao, pick up a clean sweep of the highest possible grades, with eleven 9s. Many others were celebrating receiving a number of the top grades, including:

• Isabella, who achieved nine grade 9s and one grade 8;
• Nesrin, who achieved seven grade 9s and three grade 8s;
• Shalom, who achieved seven grade 9s and two grade 8s;
• Iris, who achieved five grade 9s and five grade 8s;
• Bohdan, who achieved four grade 9s and four grade 8s;
• Telvin, who achieved three grade 9s and five grade 8s.

This year at the academy, 60% of students achieved a grade 5 or above in both English and maths, whilst a third of them (34%) achieved a grade 7 or higher in the two subjects.

Overall, three-quarters of the year group (76%) achieved at least a grade 4 in both English and maths.

Many of the Year 11s will now be preparing to return to the school’s Sixth Form, which enjoyed mirror-image celebrations last week as A Level results were released. Sixth Formers confirmed their places at top UK universities, with 49% of those who applied to university securing offers to Russell Group institutions, including the University of Cambridge and King’s College London.

Reflecting on the day, Leon Wilson, Executive Principal at The Elms Academy, said:

“This has been another excellent year for the academy’s students and we are all incredibly proud of what these Year 11s have achieved. Maintaining focus, determination and resilience over the course of their GCSE studies is not easy but these students can take their next steps happy in the knowledge that their hard work and efforts have paid off. Their outcomes are also testament to the expectations and ambition set for them by staff, who work tirelessly to support them to succeed. Thank you to them and congratulations to our Year 11s – we look forward to welcoming many of them to our Sixth Form.”