STUDENTS on the English side of the Wye met the challenge of tougher GCSEs in maths and English.

Head of Dene Magna School in Mitcheldean, Steve Brady, said with the ‘volatility’ around results — exam boards had made it clear there would be far fewer top grades — a six per cent increase in the pass rate for English and maths was “a vindication.”

In maths, 81 per cent got the new pass of grade four and 56 per cent got the ‘good pass’ of a grade five while the figures for English were 74 per cent and 53 per cent.

Wyedean School at Sedbury celebrated its best-ever GCSE performance with an increase of eight per cent — to 73 per cent — of students gaining the equivalent of five A*-C grades including English and maths.

At the Dean Academy in Lydney, the ‘standard’ pass rate in English, maths and science increased by 10 per cent with a number of students gaining five A* or A equivalents.

John Kyrle High in Ross saw more pupils get the higher grades of seven to nine than the national average and the 63 per cent who got five grade A*-C including English and maths was also better than the average for England.

There were also changes to exams in Wales — although numbers did not replace letter grades — with maths being split in maths and numeracy, and a new English test.

At Chepstow School 70 per cent of students gained at least five A*-C including English and maths.

Monmouth School for Girls set a new record for A* with 49 per cent gaining the top grade, up from 42 per cent last year while at the Boys’ School, 93 per cent attained A*-C grades.