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Ponteland Online News has a number of contributing authors, all of whom will add their own posts on various aspects of village life, from the housing market to events and public meetings. If you are involved in a business or organisation, be it a school, church or a club in the Ponteland area and would like to contribute to the blog on a regular basis or just from time to time please email Ponteland Online Admin You must put the story title in the email subject line and the story itself in the main body of the email, add any picture attachments and send as normal.

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Friday, August 21, 2009

Record Crop of A-levels for Students

Across the board, schools recorded improvements on last year’s results.

At Haydon Bridge, Sarah Bowman achieved six A-grade passes while 10 of her peers also recorded straight A grades.

Sarah is now off to Cambridge University to study modern languages.

The high school broke its record for the number of A and B grades, which peaked at 54 per cent this year.

Headteacher John Dowler said: “We are delighted with this year’s results and our 98 per cent pass rate is testament to the hard work of all our students and their teachers and parents.”

At Ponteland a whopping 16 students achieved straight A grades with the overall pass rate also up to over 98 per cent this year.

Average scores were up on last year, with 57 per cent achieving A or B grades.

Headteacher Stephen Prandle said: “The number of students going on to university from Ponteland looks like being very strong once again this year, bucking the national trend.”

Queen Elizabeth High School, in Hexham, also recorded a 98 per cent pass rate, with 46 per cent achieving A or B grades.

Four students achieved straight As, two of which are off to Durham University. In performing arts, nine out of 12 students received a distinction and four out of seven students got the same for sports science diplomas.

The standard in the art and design department at QEHS has remained high as 78% of those entered gained A or B grades.

Meanwhile six Prudhoe High School students achieved straight As and headteacher Iain Shaw commended those who had struggled through difficult personal circumstances to do exceptionally well.

He added: “We had more students applying for university this year than ever before and it’s nice to see that we have quite a lot of creative young people going to university to study everything from creative writing, to animation, film and drama.

"It seems that the vast majority have got into their first choices, while a small number will be entering clearing, as they haven't got their first or second choices, so we'll be supporting them during the day.”