Celebrating at Cowes Enterprise College are, from left, Pille-Riin Kulla, Marston Hillier and Jack Wood. Picture by Peter Boam
A NEW Isle of Wight record GCSE pass rate was set by an Island school today (Thursday) but overall figures were down after results at three schools dropped on last year.
At Christ the King College, 77.1 per cent of its students achieved A* to C grades, including English and maths, setting a new record for the Isle of Wight.
Ryde Academy and Cowes Enterprise College both improved but results at Carisbrooke College, Medina College and Sandown Bay Academy were down on last year, meaning overall results for the Island were down from 49.5 per cent to 44.2 per cent.
The figures for Sandown Bay Academy were released by County Hall but earlier today the school said it would not release the figures because it had an issue with English results.
In a statement given to the County Press this morning, AET, which runs Sandown Bay Academy, said: "Discussions with other schools and academies have shown English GCSE results may be lower than expected this year.
"When the situation is fully investigated we will be making the appropriate complaints or appeals to make sure no students are unfairly disadvantaged.
"Until this is resolved, we will not be releasing any overall figures for five A* to C including English and maths for 2012."
The Isle of Wight Council cabinet member responsible for education and children's services, Cllr Dawn Cousins, called for an urgent meeting to discuss the results at Carisbrooke, Medina and Sandown.
She said: "Unfortunately, the good work of Cowes and Ryde, and in particular Christ the King, has been affected by the results provided by Sandown, Medina and Carisbrooke.
"For Carisbrooke to drop almost 16 percentage points, Medina nearly 20 percentage points and Sandown ten percentage points in a year is wholly unacceptable and we will be seeking urgent meetings with the providers as a matter of priority.
"There is no good reason why what the three successful schools have achieved should not be emulated by the others."
The number of pupils achieving five or more A* to C grades including English and maths at Medina College dropped from 52 per cent in 2011 to 32.5 per cent this year.
Carisbrooke College dropped from 51 per cent to 35.1 per cent and Sandown went from 50 per cent to 40 per cent.
At Ryde Academy , 50.6 per cent of students achieved A* to C, including English and maths — up nine per cent on last year — and Cowes Enterprise College went from 48 per cent to 49.2 per cent.
Janet Newton, Isle of Wight Council deputy director for schools and education, said: "Firstly, we should say how pleased we are for the staff and students at Christ the King College, who have achieved the highest ever GCSE results on the Island and they deserve our praise and congratulations.
"This sets a high bar for all the other secondary providers for when they too have had the students for the full five years of secondary education.
"They have set the example for other providers to follow.
"We are delighted with the significant rise at Ryde Academy, bringing its results closer to the national average.
"Cowes Enterprise College also improved upon last year's results, giving it a good platform for its forthcoming move into the new building.
"However, the results at Carisbrooke, Medina and Sandown are simply not good enough and are the sole reason why the Isle of Wight has seen a reduction in the numbers of students achieving five or more A* to C grades.
"There will be some very tough questions for these schools and we will want answers as to why their performances have been so bad."
Reporter: mattw@iwcpmail.co.uk