After being open for a year Borehamwood's Hertswood School has produced its first ever GCSE and A level results and they were worth the wait.
The school was relying on good grades as much as its pupils. Having replaced Hillside and Hawksmoor schools a year ago, it was vital that it could prove the turmoil and expense of setting up a new school had been worthwhile.
Overall, GCSE results were better than last year's at Hillside and Hawksmoor, while A Level results were around the same as before the new school took over.
The number of students achieving five or more grade A to C GCSE passes rose from 23 to 26 per cent.
The number of pupils gaining five or more A to G grade passes also rose, from 76 to 82 per cent, but the number of pupils gaining at least one GCSE pass fell from 94 to 93 per cent.
While standards are still lower than they were for Hillside and Hawksmoor's combined performance in 1999, they have improved since 2000, the year Hertswood opened.
Headteacher Ian Lucas said he was confident next year's results would show the potential Hertswood has to be a great school.
"This is encouraging for the staff, and for the children. Both sides responded remarkably well to what has been a massive change in Borehamwood.
"Everyone said the new school system would affect the children, and it has, but in a positive way."
Pupil Victor Phillips said he had achieved better than expected results, while Nicola Jarvis said she had enjoyed her year at Hertswood, and had done well in her exams.
Julie Page had hoped to enrol on an apprenticeship course, but is now considering carrying on with A Levels at the school. "If I can find a course in the Sixth Form I will take it," she said.
Some pupils at the school gained astonishing GCSE results. Sarah Trentham, who achieved the best grades in the school, passed nine GCSEs at grade A to C, seven of which were at grade A.
Joanna Mason passed nine exams at grade A to C, and Steven Wainwright passed eight exams at grades A to C.
Deputy headteacher Peter Baker said the school's GCSE results would have been better this year, but 12 students who were enrolled at the start of term had left by the end, which distorted the statistics.
The school's target for the year was to have 27 per cent of students attaining five or more passes at grades A to C, and it reached 26 per cent. He said if the 12 missing pupils had sat their exams, the school would have reached its target.
"Girls did marginally better than boys, but only in line with national trends, and we are monitoring that situation," he added.
The average performance of A Level students at the school was below the national average, but only 50 pupils sat A levels at Hertswood this year, and Mr Lucas said the majority of students had achieved the grades they needed to go on to higher education.
Under the Government's grading system, each A Level student is awarded a number of points for each A Level exam they pass. A grade A pass earns ten points, while a D earns six points.
In 1999 the average Hillside pupil gained 11.3 A Level points, while the average Hawksmoor pupil gained 5 points.
This year, the average Hertswood A Level student achieved 9.8 points.
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