New Bridge pupils beat the average results

Gerry Jones congratulated those who had done so well in their exams and said the school will continue to increase the number of subjects available to about to do their A-Levels.

“The staff, pupils and parents of the College are absolutely delighted once again at the high level of achievement of our Sixth Form in their A-Level examinations,” he said.

“Analysis of the results clearly shows that our pupils, as a group, have achieved results which are significantly higher than the Northern Ireland average for non selective schools.”

Mr Jones said that the New Bridge results were proof that going to a grammar school was not the be all and ends in terms of academic progression.

“As an all-ability school we maintain the ethos that each individual can achieve their full academic potential, and in many cases pupils achieve significantly beyond the expectation,” he said.

“This success in public examinations is testimony to that ethos and to the fact that academic selection at age 11 is an unnecessary evil in our school system. Many of our sixth form students would not have gained entry to grammar schools at the time of transfer at age 11 but have gone on to achieve A* and A grades in a wide range of A level courses.”

He added, “In recent years the College has continued to expand and increase the number of post 16 courses on offer and we are particularly pleased with results gained in new courses run in collaboration with the Southern Regional College. We are also continuing to increase our course menu through close collaboration with other schools within the Banbridge Area Learning Community.”

And Mr Jones concluded, “The vast majority of our sixth form students will continue into third level education and I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate them on their success.

“I would in addition take this opportunity to thank the dedicated staff of the College for their hard work and commitment in assisting our students to obtain these outstanding results.

“Finally I would like to recognise the work of the Board of Governors whose continued commitment contributes significantly to the high standards of achievement maintained by staff and pupils.”