After two years of low-key celebrations due to Covid-19, pupils and staff were able to get together again on GCSE Results Day at St Philip Howard Catholic Voluntary Academy in Glossop.

The class of 2022 have had a disrupted secondary education because of the pandemic but, in spite of this, there were plenty of success stories at the Sunlaws Street school - which is part of the St Ralph Sherwin Catholic Multi Academy Trust. 

Students were warmly welcomed into the Campion building on Thursday morning (25 August) by bright balloons, congratulatory banners and smiling staff members, before the anxious wait was finally over when they opened their envelopes inside the canteen. 

Seb Kinsey was ecstatic after achieving better than he was expecting with a grade 7 in English Literature; grade 8s in Maths, RE, Spanish and English Language; and grade 9s in Geography, Physics, Biology and Chemistry and Physical Education. 

Seb Kinsey 

The 16-year-old from Glossop - who was Head Boy in Year 11 - praised his "amazing" teachers for all of their support during remote learning in the pandemic. 

He's looking forward to his next chapter at Xaverian College in Manchester to study Politics, Maths and Geography. But there was no time for immediate celebration as Seb was heading straight off to a course in the afternoon and then running a 10k race in Manchester in the evening! 

Molly Kay said her results were definitely better than what she was expecting, after racking up grade 9s in History, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, English Language and English Literature; grade 8s in Maths, Religious Education and Computer Science; and a grade 7 in Spanish.

Molly, from Simmondley, hopes to go into medical research in the future but first the 16-year-old is off to Loreto College to study A Levels in Biology, Chemistry and Maths. 

Molly Kay 

Alfie Laxton was "very happy" with his results which saw him get grade 8s in Maths, Food Preparation, Chemistry and Computer Science; 7s in English Language, Religious Education, Physical Education, Biology and Physics, and a 6 in English Literature. 

The 16-year-old from Old Glossop said the highlight of his time at St Philip Howard was his Computer Science course and that preparing for his GCSEs during Covid was "stressful and a lot of pressure". 

Alfie is now off to Xaverian College to study Computer Science, Maths and Psychology and, although he's keeping an open mind about his career, he has aspirations of taking a future course relating to Artificial Intelligence. 

Joseph Cousen said he got the results he was roughly expecting after achieving grade 7s in Biology, Spanish and Physics; grade 8s in Maths, Physical Education and Chemistry, and grade 9s in Religious Education, History, English Language and English Literature. 

The 16-year-old, who lives near Simmondley, is moving on to Manchester's Loreto College where his chosen subjects are History, Law and Religious Education but he doesn't know what his future career might be yet. 

Perhaps surprisingly, Joseph said the highlight of his time at St Philip Howard was the canteen food! 

Alfie Laxton (left) and Joseph Cousen with their results 

May Mannion was pleasantly surprised with her Grade 6 in English Literature; grade 7s in Maths, Physics, Spanish and English Language; grade 8s in Religious Education, Biology and Physical Education, and grade 9s in Geography and Chemistry. 

May Mannion 

The 16-year-old from Simmondley was particularly proud of her Chemistry result after not even getting close to a grade 7 in her mock exams. 

She plans to go to Xaverian to study Biology, Psychology and either Chemistry or Geography. 

Charlie Pryce-Hammond, who was Deputy Head Boy, was "lost for words" after outperforming many of his targets including getting a grade 5 in Maths and grade 4 in History. 

The 16-year-old from Glossop wants to go on to study Media Studies and his dream is to work on movies in the future. 

Charlie Pryce-Hammond 

Grace Connor was "really shocked" but "very happy" to find out she had received grade 9s in Religious Studies, English Language, English Literature, Food Preparation and History; a grade 8 in Art and Design; grade 6s in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, and a grade 5 in Maths. 

Grace was particularly pleased with her History result as it's her favourite subject. As she progresses to study History, Classic Civilisation and Philosophy at Loreto College, the 16-year-old from Broadbottom wants to be a history professor at a university in the future. 

Grace Connor 

Other success stories highlighted by staff included Sam Wardle, who achieved an average across his subjects of a grade 8, and Cliodhna O Hara who achieved two grade 9s and five grade 8s. 

A highlight of the morning, which brought a laugh and a smile to everyone present, came when Head of Geography Mr World - never one to break a promise apparently - had his head shaved in support of his student Oscar Hicks. 

The two had agreed light-heartedly that Oscar could channel his inner barber if he achieved the grade 5 target that the teacher had set for him in his subject, which he did, so out came the hair clippers! 

The school said in a statement: "Despite the many obstacles, the class of 2022 at Team SPH sprinted their way to the GCSE finish line with success. This day, unlike any other, will certainly be one that will be celebrated and remembered forever by all.

"Students can enjoy their results, take pride in their success and reminisce on every unusual, yet special moment of their time in secondary education."

Some of the staff at St Philip Howard who came into school to support students on GCSE Results Day  

Across the UK, the pass rate for this year's GCSEs in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has fallen since 2021 but remains higher than 2019 - the last year exams were sat before the Covid pandemic.

Overall, 73.2 per cent of GCSEs were marked at grades 4/C and above this year - down from 77.1 per cent last year when grades were decided by teachers. It's been described as a "transition" year by England's exams regulator Ofqual. 

A reminder of the new GCSE grading system. Image: GOV.UK

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