Our year 11 students have worked tirelessly during their GCSE studies including a period of time where they had no idea if their grade would be dependent on a final exam or not. Staff at Forge have supported these students and our entire study body through the pandemic and will continue to do so.
Next steps are incredibly important, we must ensure that students have clear pathways in order to continue their learning journey. Our job is to cut through the politics and ensure that these young people have resources, guidance and good advice at their disposal. That’s our commitment to them. We look forward to welcoming many of them back into our sixth form in September when we hope to be able to start to get back to normal and open the Academy safely as we prepare our students for the future.
Assistant principal for Key Stage 4, James Kay said: “We are really proud of the students who are receiving their results this year – their achievements are deserved and the positivity, resilience and togetherness they have shown throughout this process has made them a credit to themselves, their families and our Academy.
“We are happy with our overall pass rate but this year more than any other year is about individual grades; there are those who will have excelled and some who felt they could have done better. We stand together and celebrate and support accordingly. We move forward and I know that families and the community stand with our young people too.
“If students have any queries or concerns regarding their results they should speak to a member of staff as soon as possible; we have a dedicated support team on site today. We’ve also produced a set of frequently asked questions that can be accessed on our website.“
Forge Principal, Dr Lisa Mason said: “Teachers and heads of department know their students and they are best placed to make these judgements. As an Academy, we have worked extremely hard to submit grades which are a fair and accurate representation of each student’s individual performance. The same criteria, regulation and moderation were then applied fairly across all subjects which was audited by the Academy and went through a robust quality assurance process.
“This means that for students awaiting their GCSE grades on Thursday, the majority will receive the centre assessed grades set by their schools. In a very small number of cases, however, where the grade calculated by the standardisation process is higher than the centre assessed grade, the higher grade will stand. This is to prioritise student interests and ensure that there are no barriers for students being able to progress.
“It’s important that we pay tribute to our young people today, and students collecting results all over the country, by congratulating them on their resilience and determination. We are incredibly proud of them all. Celebrate safely and be well.“