MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands secondary education students achieve excellent results

Some happy GCSE students on Thursday: Sabrina Camblor, Darby Newman, Dwight Joshua, Jess Whalley King, Kattrice Berntsen and Rebecca Goss

The Falkland Islands have reported another education success. A 62% of Falkland Islands Community School GCSE students have gained five or more GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) at Grade C or above.

 This represents a 12 percentage point increase on the previous year and is significantly higher than the previous five year average of 50% explained a delighted Acting Head Teacher Paul Barton The results were released on Thursday morning.

Mr Barton said: “Results day is always a day of mixed emotions, celebrating the success of the students who did well and sharing the disappointment of those who did not achieve the results they hoped for.”

He said the excellent results were a, “real testament to the work and commitment shown by the majority of students and is even more of an achievement considering that both English and Maths have new 1-9 GCSE that contains more content.

“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the year group on this fantastic set of results and thank the teachers, parents and wider community who supported them. On behalf of all the staff at FICS I wish them well in whatever they choose to do in the future”

Acting Director of Education, Karen Steen, explained this year is the first of the revised GCSEs in English language, English literature and Mathematics.

The qualifications have more demanding subject content than the qualifications they replace. For the three subjects, all the assessments are taken at the end of the course by examination and are graded 1 to 9; with 9 being the highest grade representing a standard higher than the previous A*.

The changes brought about by the government in England mirrors the changes in A Level study and are intended to better prepare students for further study and work. They are more stretching for the most able students, while remaining accessible to the range of students who have traditionally taken GCSEs.

Among other successful students, Devni Peramunugamage achieved Seven A*s and Two As plus two grade 6s. She also took an A level Additional Mathematics subject for which she scored the maximum possible grade. 

Sabrina Camblor will study for childcare qualifications at Chichester College, Rebecca Goss, hospitality and catering qualifications and Dwight Joshua a Diploma in ICT. (Penguin News)