STUDENTS at Matravers are celebrating their GCSE and A Level results this month; while the school pledges to continue to build on its achievements. 
At A-level, the school pass rate was up and the proportion of students receiving the top grades has improved again. The average points score per student (which measures how well students achieve across all their grades) has also gone up, with several students topping the 1000 mark. Many of the students are now looking forward to starting courses at some of the UK’s most prestigious universities.
Star A-level students this year were Sam McNeil who gained A*AA, Ellen Baker who gained an A*in her extended project and two further A grades and Katie New who achieved AAB. Meg Whittock was awarded a triple BTEC starred distinction and Melissa Butt achieved a double BTEC starred distinction with a further distinction.
Subjects that performed particularly well were the sciences and art, where the vast majority of students gained A*-B grades. In business, dance, French, and psychology over half the class gained A*-B grades. The results for the extended project were particularly pleasing where all students gained A*-B grades under the guidance of assistant head Paul Clark.
GCSE results
GCSE results saw 51% of entries achieving the benchmark of five good passes at GCSE (including English and maths). This year the maths passes A*-C are at record levels, and well over the national average. Other high performing subjects were science, where there were 100% A*-C pass rates for biology, physics and chemistry; and art and design and photography with A*-C pass rates over 90%. Core science, textiles and English literature A*-C pass rates were 80% or better, and results in drama, geography and PE improved significantly.
There were many star performances among the year 11 students with the number of students getting top grades up sharply; Jess Holland who gained 10 A*s and an A grade, Shane Roy who gained 5 A*s and 3 A grades and Alistair Blance who achieved 4A*s and 6As. Gemma Sawyer, Chloe Merrit, Charlie Pickford and Chloe Bleakly all gained 3A*s and a host of A grades. Many other students achieved high grades including Nikita Turner with 1 A* and 8 A grades and Zoe Booth who also got 8 As.
The school says, “Congratulations to students and staff of Matravers on another successful year. The school has improved rapidly under the headship of Mrs Beverley Martin and will continue to build on these achievements in the coming academic year.”
In September the school will welcome its new headteacher Dr Simon Riding. Beverley Martin is leaving the school to take up the position of executive headteacher at Isca College of Media Arts in Exeter.
