A COVENTRY all-girls Islamic Free School is one of the best in the country, according to new figures.
It comes as the top performing schools in Coventry and Warwickshire have been revealed based on 2019’s GCSE results, released by the Department for Education.
Eden Girls’ School, Coventry – which has an Outstanding Ofsted rating – has achieved achieved the third highest score for academic progress in England in GCSE performance tables, with a Progress 8 Score of +1.61, which is well above average.
Progress 8 monitors pupils’ progress between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 across eight key subjects from the age of 11 to the age when they complete their GCSEs.
Fifty five per cent of pupils achieved a ‘strong pass’ in English and Maths – one of the highest among non-selective schools; while 80 per cent achieved a ‘standard pass’ in English and Maths.
The school has been singled out for praise by School Standards Minister Nick Gibb, who said: “These results show that pupils and teachers at Eden Girls School have risen to the challenge of our new, more rigorous GCSEs and are being equipped with the skills that will set them up for future success.
“This success is testament to the hard work of pupils parents and teachers who can all feel rightly proud of their achievements.”
Eden Girls’ School is the only city school to reach the top ten highest scoring schools across the region, the rest being in Warwickshire.
The ranking is based on each school’s Attainment 8 score – an average score across eight subjects taken at GCSE, including English, maths and a mix of other subjects. The average for state-funded schools is 46.6.
King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon has been named as the best-performing school in Coventry and Warwickshire scoring 78.6 points per pupil, closely followed by Stratford Girls’ Grammar School was very close behind, with students achieving 78.4. Lawrence Sheriff School in Rugby was third, with each pupil scoring an average of 74.5.
Other schools in the top ten include: Alcester Grammar School (73.1), Rugby High School (72.6), Kenilworth School and Sixth Form (58.5), Eden Girls’ School (58.1), Higham Lane School, Nuneaton (54.7) Alcester Academy (54.4) and Southam College (54.3).
In Coventry the nine best performing schools following Eden Girls’ School were: Blue Coat (53.7), Bishop Ullathorne (52.3), Finham Park (51.6), Cardinal Newman (46.9) Coundon Court (46.7), Caludon Castle (46.6), President Kennedy (45.6), Stoke Park (43.7), and Barr’s Hill (43.6).
Sumeya Bhikhu, Principal of Eden Girls’ School, Coventry, said: “We are delighted to have secured such an exceptional set of GCSE results, which will help our young women to go on to achieve even greater success in the future. With the support of devoted parents and our fantastic teachers and support staff, our amazing students have worked really hard to achieve life-changing outcomes.”
Star Academies, the multi-academy trust which established and operates Eden Girls’ School, Coventry, is celebrating another year of outstanding GCSE results across its schools. Five of the trust’s schools have been placed in the top 15 nationally for progress, with Tauheedul Islam Girls’ High School in Blackburn securing first place nationally for the fourth consecutive year with a Progress 8 score of 2.1.
Eden Girls’ School is a free school with 100 pupils who sat GCSE exams in 2019. It opened in 2014 and three years later in 2017 was rated outstanding in all areas after its first Ofsted inspection.
The Henrietta Barnett School in Barnet was the top-performing school in England with students achieving an average 85.1 Attainment 8 points each.
