Wirral College GCSE resit results 'smash national average'

The Claughton-based institution offers a 'second chance' to students who had failed Maths and English at high school.

Among them were two Ukrainian refugees sitting English GCSE for the first time.

A statement from the college read that the national average pass rate was measured at 20% in 2022 after a full year of resit study, with exams taken in the summer.

Its pass rates of 53% in Maths and 72% in English Language are made all the more remarkable given that students had only been studying at the venue for just three months and turned their fortunes around when taking the exams in November.

Pass rates at the college for students taking GCSEs is expected to rise to 75% and 90% in those respective subjects by the end of the academic year.

Among the students to receive their 'superb results' were Sofiia Bobyr and Tetiana Nimko, who arrived in the UK in summer 2022 having had to flee the war in Ukraine with Russia.

Both succeeded in being awarded grade four and fives, five being a high pass, in Maths and English while sitting exams in a second language, which is a phenomenal achievement having not even lived in the country for a year yet.

Principal at Birkenhead Sixth Form College, Mike Kilbride, said: "Our results in Maths and English GCSE resits continue to be some of the most impressive in the country year-on-year, with the teachers in each subject managing to get students to levels that even they didn’t think they were capable of.

"It's worth remembering that for the majority of these students, they have studied for these exams for five years at their high schools and not managed to pass the terminal exams, but given less than three months at the College, they are achieving a bare minimum of a pass, if not going into the range of high grades.

"It speaks volumes about the ability of the teachers here in the classrooms and being able to get students to reach their full potential."