Students and teachers have been praised after Key Stage 4 data released today showed GCSE results improved in Wolverhampton last year - helping the city move up 18 places in national league tables.

Some 51.6% of pupils gained the benchmark of 5 or more GCSEs at A* to C including English and Maths in 2015, up from 46.4% the year before. It makes Wolverhampton the most improved local authority in the West Midlands in 2015.

Meanwhile, Wolverhampton students continued to perform strongly in vocational subjects last year, coming a hugely impressive third in the country with an average points score of 740.4 at Key Stage 5.

In addition, Wolverhampton is ranked 14th nationally for all Level 3 qualifications - A-level, academic and vocational - with an average points score of 753.1 per student, compared to 717.8 nationally.

Councillor Claire Darke, the City of Wolverhampton Council's Cabinet Member for Education, said: "We saw a strong performance by students in their GCSEs last year, and I'd like to congratulate them, their teachers and parents on their achievements.

"We are now seeing improved outcomes for children and young people across the board, from our very youngest pupils to those leaving school and heading into further education, employment or training for the first time.

"Earlier this week we announced that 80% of Key Stage 2 pupils in the city reached level 4 or above in reading, writing and maths in 2015, up from 79% the previous year - making them among the best performing in the West Midlands. More and more pupils are also making the progress expected of them between Key Stages 1 and 2.

"Those improvements are now being replicated at Key Stage 4 while, once again, the performance of students taking vocational subjects is particularly noteworthy.

"At the same time, more than three quarters of our pupils are now attending schools that are rated either good or outstanding by Ofsted, and we expect that number to increase still further in the coming months.

"We've also invested £270 million through our Building Schools for the Future programme, which has improved secondary school buildings and facilities to provide the best educational environment for our young people.

"This has all been achieved through the hard work of school leaders, teachers, pupils and parents, with support from the council - but we won't be resting on our laurels and are determined to improve outcomes still further by helping schools drive up standards so that our children and young people have the best possible chance to reach their full potential."

  • released: Thursday 21 January, 2016