Knowsley Council has responded after new data found the borough to be the worst performing area for GCSE results this year. As students across the country collected their grades at schools and colleges on Thursday, August 20, fewer than 10% in Knowsley were among those to receive top marks.
According to exam data, only 8% of results in the borough made it to grade 7 or above – traditional A or A* grades – for the latest academic year. Halton, which sits in the Liverpool City Region, was the fourth worst performing council area, with just 11% of grade 7 or higher results.
Regional and national comparison
Liverpool’s results were marked at 17%, while Sefton recorded 16.5%. Across the North West, only 19% secured marks worthy of a 7 or higher, highlighting a growing national divide.
In the City of London, 72% of students made the cut by comparison, with three other London boroughs in the mid to high 40s. The North West performed better when it came to the number of students achieving grade 4 – formerly C – or higher, with 64%. This was the second highest performing area after the North East.
Council response
In a statement, a Knowsley Council spokesperson addressed this year’s performance. The spokesperson said: “We are incredibly proud of the achievements of students across Knowsley and, importantly, that we have seen more students achieving passes in English and maths – something that we have been prioritising across the borough.
“Over the last few years, we have seen a sustained improvement in GCSE pass rates and we will continue to work in partnership with our schools, academy trusts and the Archdiocese to further improve outcomes for our children and young people.”
Currently, Knowsley is the only English council area without A-level provision. Its last centre, Halewood Academy sixth form, closed in 2017. This leaves students from the borough to find further education in Liverpool, St Helens or further afield.
City region and national results
Wirral was the best performing city region authority for GCSEs with 21% of students making it to grade 7 or higher, but just 14% were recorded in St Helens. Trafford in Greater Manchester had the fifth best results in the country, however.
With 39.7% achieving a grade 7 or above, it’s the highest score outside of the south of England by some distance. The North East had the worst GCSE results of any region in England. Just 17.7% of grades in the region were 7 or higher, compared to 28.5% in London.
It’s a gap of 10.8 percentage points. That’s up from a gap of 10.3 points last year. In the South East, 24.6% of grades were seven or higher. In the East of England it was 22.0% and in the South West it was 21.0%.
It drops to 19.0% in Yorkshire and The Humber, 18.9% in the North West, 18.3% in the West Midlands and 18.2% in the East Midlands. Nationally, 67.3% of students hit the mark, down 0.1% on last year and achieving the same as 2019. By comparison, in Northern Ireland, learners securing 4 and above hit 83%.
