GM fails to make grade

POOR performance . . . the GM University Technical College

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NOT a single pupil at Oldham's only specialist technical school achieved at least a C grade in both GCSE English and maths.

That's one of the headline figures for Oldham to come from exam league tables published today by the Department for Education.

It means all 46 pupils at The GM University Technical College (UTC) will have to re-sit at least one of the key subjects. UTCs are a new type of school for 14 to 18-year-olds which are heralded as providing an innovative, high-quality education that combines technical, practical and academic learning. There are 48 in the UK which specialise in subjects such as engineering, manufacturing, science and digital media.

The GM opened in a new £9 million building in Middleton Road, Oldham, in September, 2014 and specialises in sustainable engineering.

Principal Lee Kilgour said 24 per cent of students achieved at least a C in GCSE maths.

"Our GCSE results are very disappointing, particularly in English," he added.

"The leadership has carried out a detailed analysis of these results and implemented plans which are sharply focused on significantly improving outcomes for our current year 11s."

Under Government reforms, the main measure of the annual school performance tables is no longer the percentage of pupils gaining at least five A* to C grades, including English and maths ­- although these figures are still published.

This has been replaced with Progress 8 and Attainment 8 which measure pupils' performance and attainment across a selection of eight approved subjects, with extra weight given to maths and English.

The GM's figures for both are also poor, but the school says it was affected by pupils only sitting seven out of the eight subjects.

Elsewhere in Oldham, Blue Coat and Oldham Academy North are the mainstream schools with the joint highest Progress 8 scores, which measure pupils' progress during secondary school against those who started at the same level. Blue Coat has the highest Attainment 8 figure, which measures exam successes, and the highest percentage of pupils achieving the English Baccalaureate (at least a C in English, maths, science, history or geography and a language).

When it comes to the percentage of pupils gaining at least five A* to C grades including English and maths, the top performer was Blue Coat with 78 per cent.

After GM UCT, which scored zero, Oasis and Oldham Academy North had the borough's lowest results with 35 and 36 per cent respectively. However, the results for Oasis were 10 points higher than in 2015, while those for Oldham Academy North were down by 13 points. The council has approved the expansion of both schools to help meet a demand for more secondary places in the borough. The biggest increase was at Waterhead Academy where the pass rate jumped from 31 to 45 per cent.

Oldham Academy North head teacher Martin Knowles said: "We are delighted that our Progress 8 figure is the joint highest in Oldham. This maintains our position in the top 10 per cent of schools nationally for student progress.

"This new significant measure by the Government assesses progress for all students, regardless of their ability and their starting points. I am particularly proud of this figure as I am extremely passionate about all children achieving their full potential.

"This follows on from our recognition in Sir Michael Wilshaw's annual Ofsted report in December. The academy continues to go from strength to strength."

Hulme Grammar School says the reason none of its pupils are recorded as having gained at least a C in both English and maths is because they sat the International GCSE qualification in English language and literature.

The qualifications are popular with many independent schools, especially since changes to the GCSE curriculum, but do not count in the performance tables.

Pupils who left last year were the first to sit the iGCSEs at Hulme and principal Craig Mairs said: "We feel these courses are better suited to our students. They retain the listening and speaking element which other courses do not, which our pupils do well in.

"A number of independent schools do this. We were aware of the impact on the league tables but we are more interested in doing the right thing for our pupils."

Including the iGCSE, 98 per cent of Hulme pupils achieved at least five A * to C grades, including English and maths. More than 70 per cent of all grades in both English language and English literature were A*s or As.

Hulme Grammar School tops Oldham's A-level league tables.

It had the highest points score per A-level entry (where higher grades are given more points) with 38.73, followed by Blue Coat School (33.78) and Oldham Sixth Form College (29.05),

But Oldham Sixth Form College has the borough's highest Value Added Score, which measures the progress made by pupils between GCSE and A-level.