Thursday 23 August 2012 Three students at The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) are celebrating stellar achievements in their GCSE examinations, with A* in eleven subjects. By opting to study astronomy as an additional subject out of hours Anam Malik, Max Gordon and Matthew Li took a total of eleven subjects each, all achieving a clean sweep of the top grade. Along with six other pupils they have given up two lunchtimes a week for astronomy lessons, which have been offered at the school for 25 years thanks to the enthusiasm and dedication of Physics teacher Derek Fry. Mr Fry said, “It’s a huge task for these students to do so well in a GCSE subject that they only start in Year 10 and they confer great distinction on the school through their achievements.” Max said, “Mr Fry makes the subject so interesting, we’ve covered it in depth and tackled topics well beyond the level of GCSE.” A further twelve pupils gained a perfect ten A*s. Overall, students at GSAL have notched up a stunning 823 GCSE passes at A* amounting to 35 per cent of grades achieved at the school. Pupils have also pulled off outstanding results in a number of subjects at A* and A. The top two grades were achieved by 78 per cent of candidates in mathematics, 66 per cent in English literature, 81 per cent in geography, 82 per cent in ICT and 73 per cent in both science and additional science. Principal Mr Mike Gibbons said, “We are delighted with this year’s GCSE results. We have maintained a strong set of results which is particularly pleasing in a year when results have fallen nationally. “It is gratifying that 73 of our pupils have achieved at least 10 A grades and is a testament to their hard work and dedication. I offer my warmest congratulations to all our students and staff for their effort and commitment.” Download a summary of the GCSE results General Senior School News
