Students at Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School in St Albans have been celebrating after collecting their GCSE results.

A humble Evie Cody, who achieved ten Level 9’s said: "I am over the moon with my results. I am so glad that all the hard work and the support I received from my teachers has paid off. I look forward to continuing my studies at the NBS sixth form."

Mazon Lanyes, who was also one of the top achievers in the year group with nine Level 9’s and one level 8, said: "I am so happy with the results I achieved today. I think this really shows the hard work and being resilient especially over the last two years is key to success. I’d like to thank the school and all of my teachers who helped me achieve my potential."

Raphael Monteriro, another top achiever in Year 11 was delighted with his results and said: "I am really happy with the grades I got this morning. They show that hard work pays off. I would like to thank all the teachers who have pushed me to achieve my best and the school for supporting me over the last 5 years. I am looking forward to joining the Sixth Form at NBS to study, physics, maths, further maths and history at A Levels."

Aaron Robbins, another high flier commented: "I am absolutely delighted with my results. I would like to thank my teachers for pushing me to achieve the best results I could. I look forward to starting the sixth form at NBS in September to begin my A Level studies."

Olivier Zieba was delighted when he opened up the brown envelope to see that his hard work had truly paid off with GCSE grades of mainly 9’s and 8’s.  

"I would like to say thank you to all of the staff who have guided and supported me over the last few years especially whilst dealing with COVID. The online live lesson certainly played an important part to my success," he said.

Declan Linnane, headteacher, said: "I would like to congratulate all our students on another successful year highlighting that they have worked incredibly hard under challenging circumstances. Our students and staff have embraced these challenges and have shown to be resilient and dynamic to ensure learning continued especially during lockdown. We are incredibly proud of our students’ achievements as they have worked extremely hard and these results are a tribute to their commitment over the last five years."

Year 11 students at St Columba’s College in St Albans are celebrating their GCSE results.

Overall, the results at St Columba’s reflect the continued improved performance of the school over the last four years, with 62.6 per cent of all grades at 9—7 and 99.8 per cent of all grades at 9—4.

Ten students achieved all grade 9s and 8s, and four students achieved eleven grade 9s.

Headmaster David Buxton said: "Congratulations to all our students receiving their GCSE grades today. The results continue an upward trend for the college since 2018 but most importantly they reflect the hard work and adaptability of this cohort of students who have also had to display such high levels of resilience during the course of their GCSE studies. We look forward to welcoming them into sixth form next month."

More results coming in, this time from Sandringham School in St Albans!

Year 11 students received wonderful news as they opened their GCSE results envelopes today. The issues of the past two years with remote learning, COVID-19 restrictions in school and no public examinations paled into insignificance as students digested their outcomes and realised that their hard work and efforts had been rewarded with exceptional results.

This year was very different, with mini-tests and controlled assessments being used to formulate examination levels by teachers. The robust process ensured that good judgements were made and that students were not disadvantaged by the disruption in Year 10 and 11.

Angus Houlahan, Joe Lailey, Samuel Posner, Ida Sondergard and Ralph Whitworth all achieved the maximum possible grades, with 10 level 9’s awarded in each of their subjects. 

Overall, the vast majority of students achieved the top grades of levels 7 to 9, which will help set them up for the next stage in their learning; either joining other students in the Sandringham sixth form or moving on to college or apprenticeship .

Alan Gray, headteacher said: "We are really proud of all our students today. They have been rewarded for their hard work and effort with many truly outstanding results and this will set them up well for the future. 

"In particular, they have learnt to be resilient in the face of adversity and developed their independence as a result. Well done everyone and a very big thank you to our talented staff who helped students achieve so well today."

Results coming in thick and fast this morning! Beaumont School in St Albans are up next.

Year 11 students and their families are celebrating GCSE and BTEC success today, with a record number achieving the grades for entry into the Beaumont sixth form.

Molly Sandford-Smith achieved 10 grade 9s and will be studying A Levels in biology, chemistry, maths and English literature next year.

Headteacher, Martin Atkinson said: "Some of the students celebrating today were only 14 when the national lockdown and our remote learning program came into effect and I am very proud of the resilience, maturity and motivation our students demonstrated throughout the past 18 months. Their success is fully earned and wholly deserved."

Head of Year 11, Liz Cleverly added: "Teachers, form tutors and teaching assistants worked incredibly hard to ensure that students were fully supported in their learning and well-being through the periods of remote learning and the whole staff community has pulled together brilliantly to keep everything going so successfully and safely through the pandemic."

Results for Samuel Ryder Academy are in.

Samuel Ryder Academy is once again celebrating another outstanding set of GCSE and BTEC qualifications. 

Among a number of individual achievements, special congratulations go to Ben, Gemma and Lily for each achieving at least nine GCSEs at grade 9-7.

Chris Walker, head of year 11 said: "Throughout the national lockdowns all students at Samuel Ryder Academy have been supported by our strong pastoral care. 

"Concurrently, the academic programme has continued through remote learning, making extensive use of the new technologies and Apple Distinguished School status that have been embedded over the last three years."

Matthew Gauthier, headteacher said: "I am so impressed with the resilience and determination of our year 11 students over the last two years as they continued to work hard throughout lockdowns, these results are testament to that.

"It has been wonderful to welcome so many overjoyed parents and delighted students as they collected their results today.

"Staff have been able to help our students with securing their next steps, ensuring the right path for each individual. 

"We wish all our year 11 students great success as they join our largest cohort in sixth form, or progress to college, an apprenticeship or work."

More results coming in, this time from Sir John Lawes in Harpenden.

After so many months of disruption and unpredictability, it was great to see students smiling and laughing as they received their GCSE results at Sir John Lawes school this morning.

Head of school, Phil Newbery, said: "This year group has had more to deal with than almost any other in the history of the school and I could not be more proud of everything they have achieved. I hope they are now able to relax and enjoy what’s left of the summer."

Despite the difficulties they have faced, SJL students have produced one of the school’s strongest ever sets of results and it is now looking forward to welcoming back one of its largest sixth form cohorts.

Rik Howard, head of year 11, paid tribute to the students’ resilience, saying: "Throughout it all they’ve kept each other going, even when times were at their toughest. They really are an exceptional group of young people and we wish them all the best for the future."

Our first results are in, and they come from Verulam School in St Albans.

Verulam students were celebrating their record-breaking success in GCSE results today with over 85 per cent of students gaining five good GCSE passes or more including English and maths, while results also soared in science and the humanities.

Attainment was at a record high as 87 per cent of students secured level 4 or higher in English and maths, whilst 30 per cent of students gained prestigious grades 9 to 7.

Paul Ramsey, departing headteacher, said: "All students have had a tough educational experience over the last two years. However, it is clear that both students and staff have learnt and adapted to the changes forced upon us. 

"I was delighted with the tenacity and hard work of the boys as they prepared for their assessments in March, April and May. Their tenacity clearly paid off and led to excellent results."

Miss J Richardson who starts as the new Verulam headteacher in September added: "I am very pleased that the commitment, resilience and hard work that so characterises Verulam students has been reflected in their grades. 

"I’d like to congratulate our Year 11 students and look forward to welcoming them into the Sixth Form in September."

Today's the day for students as they anxiously collect their GCSE results.

We are still waiting on results from schools to come in, but here's what St Albans and Harpenden Secondary School Headteachers chair David Allen had to say.

"I am writing on behalf of the St Albans and Harpenden Secondary School Headteachers to congratulate our students on their A Level, GCSE and BTEC 2021 examination results," he said.

"Their hard work over two years has led to results that will enable them to successfully pursue their next steps in education, training or the workplace.

"Students have once again faced uncertainty this year due to school closures and the cancellation of their final examinations. Today we should commend their enthusiasm and tenacity and celebrate their success. 

"All students should be proud of their results and look forward to the future with confidence. They are amazing young people who will have learnt much from their experience this year, as well as their education.

"I would also like to thank our teachers for the dedication and professionalism with which they approached the task of submitting calculated grades for their students. This took a great deal of time and energy at a time when they were also working hard to support students in all year groups with the ongoing impact of the pandemic.

"All schools in St Albans and Harpenden will be supporting our students with sixth form and university entry or their next steps into training or work.

"Today, let us all commend our young people on their hard work and wish them well for the future."