Grade 9s Soar at Non-Selective Moreton Hall

Academic

Students at Moreton Hall are celebrating this week following an exceptional year of GCSE results. 18% of all grades were awarded at grade 9, the highest grade possible, which sits above the old A* and is achieved by only around 5% of entries nationally. Across the school, 57% of grades were awarded at 9–7, the equivalent of A* and A; this figure is up significantly from last year and more than 2.5x the national average of 22%.

These results are all the more remarkable for a non-selective school. Moreton Hall does not select by academic ability at entry, and is regularly ranked in the top 5% of schools nationally for value added on Cambridge University’s MidYIS measure, reflecting the progress each girl makes from her own starting point.

Success was spread right across the curriculum. Every Religious Studies candidate achieved grade 9, Spanish returned a full set of grades at 9–8, and both Drama and Food Preparation & Nutrition saw 100% of grades at 9–7. In Level 2 Extended Maths, taken by the school’s strongest mathematicians alongside their GCSEs, every candidate achieved Distinction*, a grade that sits above even grade 9.

Achievements like these grow out of the wider Moreton experience. The school, which returned to UK ownership this summer with fresh investment behind it, sits on a 100-acre campus in the Shropshire countryside near Oswestry, giving its boarders and day girls a safe, well-supported setting in which to work and grow. Alongside strong teaching, students have specialist music and drama provision, well-equipped science and technology facilities, and a sporting programme that has produced national champions and international representatives.

Principal Michael Brewer said: “These results tell you exactly what Moreton is about. We are a non-selective school, and we believe that when every girl is known individually, taught by staff who understand exactly how she learns, and encouraged to aim higher than she thought possible, remarkable things happen. This cohort has exemplified that in style; we are enormously proud of every one of them. We cannot wait to welcome so many of them into our Sixth Form in September.”

Chair of the Board Matt Brooksbank said: “As with last week’s exceptional A level results, these GCSEs sit proudly within the Moreton Hall tradition of helping every girl to achieve her potential. On behalf of the Board, I commend the achievements of our GCSE pupils, whose successes are a testament to their hard work, determination and the support of the whole Moreton community.”

Families who would like to see the school for themselves are warmly invited to Moreton Hall’s whole-school Open Day on Saturday 19 September, from 9.30am. Details and registration are at moretonhall.org/open-day.