Information for Parents
Examination Results 2012
At GCSE well over a third of Year 12 pupils achieved A* or A grades in seven or more subjects and sixteen pupils securing 10 A* or A grades. Top class individual results saw Chloe Green receive seven A* and three A grades, Imogen Hyndman 8 A* and two A grades and Thomas MCaughtry 9A* and one A. Rory Hawthorne and Rachel Nelson attained 10 A* grades each in what was another very successful year for the school. Half of all the grades awarded to our Fifth Form were either A* or A and by any measure, Down High is well ahead of the Northern Ireland grammar school average with these GCSE results. Mr Logan attributed to the school’s success to a range of factors, not least the hard work of the pupils, teachers and non-teaching staff. “We have high expectations of our pupils and encourage them to fulfil their undoubted potential. This is aided by the dedication and expertise of our teaching staff, who work tirelessly on behalf of the students,” he said. Mr Logan also said that he felt Down High pupils were benefiting from the whole-school emphasis on equipping pupils with the ability to identify the learning strategies that work best for them as individuals. “We are convinced that Down High pupils are being prepared well for university and the world of work through an emphasis on how they learn and the encouragement of a range of successful revision strategies, which are demonstrated in both year group seminars and individual subjects. The view that revision consists only of reading through notes is being challenged by an emphasis on creative learning, with each pupil being encouraged to identify what works best for him or her as an individual, as opposed to a “one size fits all” approach,” he said.
At A-Level the School produced record-breaking results for the third year in succession. More than four out of every five students in Year 14 received at least three top grades, and two out of every five grades achieved was either an A or an A*. The percentage of grades awarded A* was significantly above the provisional Northern Ireland average of 8.8%. Fifteen pupils received at least two A* grades, with Robert Gilmore and Hannah Lennon each receiving three A* grades, Hannah Stevenson 4 A*s and Richard Turley securing a remarkable 5 A*s. Of the 427 A2 examinations sat by the pupils in Down High, there was not a single fail. Four students, Jack Calvert, Campbell Stewart, Hebe Sandford and Richard Turley will take up offers at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. Mr Logan was particularly pleased to note the successes of the many pupils who had joined Down High School from a number of 11-16 schools in the area. “One of the things that pleases me most at a time when we are extending the provision of post-16 courses in the school is that the many students who joined Down High for their A-levels were able to build on their earlier achievements to secure the grades that will take them into a range of high demand university and higher education courses,” he said. One student, Alexandra Halliday, studied for her A-Levels in Down High after five very successful years in the High School, Ballynahinch and emerged with two A* grades and an A.
Click on the link below to view examination results 2012.
Examination Results 2012
