GCSE Examination results
GCSE results day was a positive morning at Larkmead, with students, families and staff gathering to share results and celebrate together. The Larkmead spirit of ‘one community’ was in full effect, with encouragement, friendship and mutual support across the morning.
Celebrating individual success stories and great progress is always a highlight of the summer. 10% of the year group achieved 6 or more Grades 9-7, with another 10% achieving especially high levels of progress based on their Year 7 starting points.
Across this year group’s time at Larkmead we have welcomed students joining us from other schools for a variety of reasons. 10% of the 2026 cohort had significant time out of school, whether through identified needs or through alternative provision and other courses. These adaptations were the right thing for the students to support their needs. The reduction in courses studied does have a very clear impact on the school’s overall headline figures of attainment and progress, as seen below.
Value added and outcomes for those students at Larkmead throughout Year 7 to 11 are positive.
Thank you to everyone for everything that has gone into these five years, and for all the additional support and encouragement in the run up to the exams. Students have progressed to Larkmead Sixth Form in record numbers, and we wish everyone success in their next steps.
FURTHER ANALYSIS 2026
The key performance indicators that school leaders, parents and Ofsted can use to compare the GCSE outcomes of different schools are:
|
9-4 E&M |
The percentage of students gaining a standard pass (grades 9-4) both in English and in Maths |
|
9-5 E&M |
The percentage of students gaining a strong pass (grades 9-5) both in English and in Maths |
|
Attainment 8 |
The average grade (points) achieved by a student across their 8 best subjects |
|
Progress 8 |
The average progress made by students in the school compared to national figures |
|
EBacc APS |
The average points score per student across the five pillars of the English Baccalaureate |
Further comparison is available on the school and college performance measures website and the Larkmead performance measures page linked here.
Attainment
Attainment figures for the recent GCSE results are given below. A 9-4 grade is roughly comparable to gaining A*-C in the legacy GCSEs and, in English and Mathematics, is termed as a standard pass under the new system. Gaining a grade 5 in English and Mathematics is termed as a strong pass. It is important to recognise that, with numerical grading, all grades 9-1 are considered as pass grades in all subjects.
|
|
2026 |
2025 National |
|
9-4 E&M |
53% |
64% |
|
9-5 E&M |
30% |
45% |
|
Attainment 8 |
38.8 |
46.0 |
Progress
Student Progress is assessed and reported through the Progress 8 measure that compares every student’s results with those of students nationally with similar KS2 attainment.
This analysis is not available this year as the cohort did not sit KS2 SATs due to Covid19.
The English Baccalaureate Average Points Score
The English Baccalaureate (EBacc) is not a qualification in its own right. It represents a measure of attainment across a suite of “traditionally academic” GCSE subjects: English, Mathematics, two Sciences, a foreign language and History or Geography, all at GCSE level. The percentage of pupils entered for the EBacc measures the proportion that study subjects in all five of these pillars.
The EBacc APS calculates a pupil's average point scores across the 5 pillars of the English Baccalaureate, allocating points to a pupil's best grades and dividing by 6 (the science grades count in 2 pillars) to create an average point score per pupil. All students are included in the EBacc APS measure but those who have not studied a subject within any one pillar score zero within that pillar. This means that this figure is considerably lower than the average GCSE result within the school.
|
|
2026 |
2025 National |
|
Percentage entered |
19% |
41% |
|
EBacc APS |
3.33 |
4.08 |
Destinations
The percentage of Larkmead students who continued in education or training, or moved on to employment in the year after ending Key Stage 4 in July 2025 was 98%. Of the three students who are classed as NEET (not in education, employment or training), two are unable to access education, employment or training due to EAL and one is in work that will hopefully lead to an apprenticeship in the future.
