Students from Five Islands Academy have yet again achieved GCSE grades and applied qualifications that exceed the expected national averages. 

The 2023 cohort faced significant global, personal and health challenges which significantly impacted on their opportunities to attend school. It is all the more impressive, then, that they made the most of every learning moment at Five Islands Academy and bucked the national downwards trend in GCSE results this year. 

Five Islands Academy takes pride in offering a wide range of qualifications despite its small size. Students took exams in 17 different GCSE subjects, achieving an average grade of 5.5, with over 30% at the top grades of 7-9. More than half of students in DT, Computer Science and History gained Grade 7 or above, and there were strong performances at these high grades in Separate Sciences, Music and Religious Studies. Students achieved very highly in English, with over 90% gaining a Standard Pass, and 43% achieving Grade 7 or above in either English Language or Literature. 

These academic achievements were enriched by the highly successful applied Level 2 courses in which two-thirds of students gained Distinctions overall: Engineering, Hospitality & Catering, Performing Arts, Creative iMedia and Child Development.

We would like to celebrate the remarkable achievements of both Kenny and Samson, each of whom achieved 9 Grade 9s - a set of results achieved by fewer than 1,000 young people across Britain. These two young people have been role models for motivation, effort, perseverance, curiosity and creative thinking throughout their school careers, while remaining kind, good humoured and helpful to their peers.

We are equally proud of those students who worked very hard to achieve GCSE grades well above their targets. The following students each made outstanding progress from their secondary school starting points, gaining an average of a grade or more higher than expected in the exams they sat: Maddie, Tom, Ailin, Rory, Patrick, Ava, Keira and Noah. 

Students are successfully progressing to pursue an exciting range of post-16 courses across the country, journeying onwards to Truro, Falmouth, Camborne, Taunton, Gloucestershire, Winchester, Lyme Regis and London. Their teachers, support staff and the whole Five Islands community will follow their futures with pride, whether they bring their new skills and knowledge back to the islands or sail away across the wider world.