GCSE RESULTS 2023

22 November 2023

Our pupils have been celebrating excellent GCSE results at Forest today. It was announced in advance that 300,000 fewer top grades would be awarded nationally, and in that context Forest results are very strong.

The GCSE headlines are:

  • In a very large cohort of 187 pupils, 50% of all grades were awarded the top Grade 8 or 9 (equivalent to an A*/A**). This represents 834 individual Grade 9s and 8s out of 1,669 grades awarded in total to the whole cohort of Forest pupils.
  • Nearly three quarters of all grades were at Grade 7 (Grade A) or above.
  • The most common grade achieved by Foresters was the top Grade 9 (A**).
  • 57 Forest pupils achieved the equivalent of straight Grade 9s (A**) or 8s (A*) in all of their subjects.
  • All Forest pupils pursue the academically demanding Higher Project Qualification which sees pupils undertake an independent research project or the production of an artefact. 42% of all HPQs were awarded the highest grade of A*, with 69% achieving A*-A.

Although last year saw a return to in-person examinations, this year’s GCSEs represent the first set of examinations which have gone ahead without modification or adjustment in grade boundaries at the national level since the pandemic. This examination cycle, therefore, represents the first ‘normal year’ since 2019. However, we must not forget that this cohort’s time at Forest was also experienced in the shadow of the pandemic, and they were affected by the uncertainty of national educational disruption, like those cohorts before them. The fact that this cohort have excelled and achieved to such a high standard is a credit to their resilience and effort. These results are also a testament to the quality of a Forest education and notably, the support and expertise of Forest teachers.

We are rightly proud of our outstanding Year 11 cohort and cannot wait to welcome the majority of them back to Forest to begin their journey through the Forest Sixth Form. Of course, examination grades are only a small element of the outstanding all-round education offered by Forest, and we know that this cohort will continue to grow and develop as a result of the extensive opportunities they enjoy inside and outside the classroom at Forest.

Today’s GCSE results follow last week’s outstanding A level outcomes, which saw over half of the cohort secure the highest A Level grades of A* and A. Our outgoing Class of 2023 depart the White Gates for a huge and diverse array of courses at excellent institutions and high prestige apprenticeships. Foresters will be taking up places at a range of UK Universities including: Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Edinburgh, Imperial, Leeds, Manchester, Nottingham, Queen Mary’s, UCL and Warwick. Eight students met their Oxbridge grade offers, ten students will pursue Medical degrees, two students will progress to Music conservatoires, four will start an Art Foundation course and others pursue degrees at international institutions such as Yale and Maastricht.