GCSE results: Larne High celebrates ‘best ever results’

A spokesperson for the Sallagh Park school said: “Following on from the fantastic results achieved by our Year 14 students last week, the Larne High School community has more cause to celebrate after an outstanding set of GCSE results.

“The school has achieved its best results ever in externally assessed GCSE and BTEC examinations with large numbers of pupils achieving high grades across all subjects. Tara Burns and Andrew McBride achieved nine GCSE grades at A*-B, Peter Reid, Andrew Topping and Denisa Veres achieved eight A*-B grades and 10 pupils achieved seven A*-B grades.

“The school saw a significant increase in top grades in subjects including English, Maths and Science, with the English Department reaching the A* grade for the first time in the school’s history.”

Principal Dr Stephen Reid commented: “In 2017 the Inspectorate challenged the school to improve the number of children achieving five good GCSE grades including English and Mathematics.

“The school has almost trebled the number of pupils achieving this standard in the past five years. The media has reported that there has been a decrease in top grades across the country, but in Larne High School we have seen continued improvement.

“The last time the pupils sat external examinations was 2019 when around 40 per cent of the cohort achieved five good grades including English and Maths. In this round of examinations, we have seen an almost 60 per cent improvement on those results.

“These results bear testimony to the high quality of learning and teaching in the school, the dedication of the whole staff and the commitment of pupils. The whole school community is delighted with what has been achieved.”