St Leonards Pupils Celebrate Record-Breaking GCSE Results

21 August 2025

St Leonards School celebrated another year of outstanding GCSE results, with the 2025 cohort achieving the highest set of grades on record in regular exam years.

Overall, 96 percent of entries were graded 9-4 (A*-C equivalent) and 55 percent of all grades were 9-7 (A*/A equivalent). Among Year 11 pupils following the two-year GCSE course, results were even stronger, with 98 percent of grades at 9-4 and 61 percent at 9-7. These are the highest GCSE outcomes ever achieved at St Leonards.

There were many individual successes across the year group. Four pupils achieved straight 8/9 grades in all of their subjects, while sixteen pupils achieved six or more top grades at 8/9. Almost 40 percent of all results were graded 8/9, with 232 of the 598 total grades awarded at this highest level. Subject highlights included 61 percent of Mathematics results at 9-7, 67 percent of History results at 9-7 and 74 percent of pupils achieving at least one 9-7 in Science.

Chris Meighen, GCSE Coordinator at St Leonards, praised both pupils and staff:
“This year’s results not only show our best yet for those achieving grades 9-7, but also highlight the huge progress made by many students since beginning their GCSEs. Many of these pupils have accomplished an excellent set of results that they can be proud of – and it’s down to the hard work of both our students and teachers.”

Deputy Head (Academic), Will Gaisford, added:
“The achievement and progress of our GCSE pupils is remarkable and caps a record-breaking year of public exam results at St Leonards. With over half of all grades awarded at 9-7, our pupils are brilliantly placed to take the next steps in their education at St Leonards and to apply to the world’s best universities.”

Earlier this summer, St Leonards celebrated equally impressive International Baccalaureate Diploma and Career-related Programme results, with Year 13 pupils securing places at some of the world’s top universities, including Oxford, St Andrews, UCL, Edinburgh, Exeter, Hult International Business School, Iowa State, Zurich and Leiden.

This summer’s GCSE, BTEC and IB outcomes reflect the academic strength of St Leonards across all stages, as well as the hard work and ambition of its pupils. With such strong foundations, this year’s GCSE cohort is exceptionally well prepared for the opportunities ahead in the Sixth Form and beyond.