Spectacular GCSE Success Continues for Holme Grange Pupils
As a Sunday Times Top 5 Independent Secondary School (11-16), Holme Grange is celebrating another successful year of GCSE results, with excellent outcomes and many attainments in line with or even better than last year’s unprecedented results.
Head, Pippa Adams praised the year group’s achievements, saying: “I am absolutely delighted to congratulate our Holme Grange pupils on their outstanding GCSE results. These achievements are a testament not only to their academic ability and hard work, but also to the many ways they have embraced school life beyond the classroom. Whether excelling in sport, music, drama or other pursuits, they have shown remarkable determination, creativity and resilience throughout their journey. I am incredibly proud of all they have accomplished and of the young people they have become.”
Maya Dharurkar, Assistant Head Academics, commented: “Not only have we engaged our pupils through a wealth of academic workshops, trips and wider academic enrichment opportunities, but our committed staff have also provided dedicated one-to-one mentoring offering exceptional support to pupils throughout their GCSE programmes.”
One of our top performers, Yana Vasilyeva, achieved ten grade 9s (plus a 7 in Further Maths): “I’m honestly speechless! Seeing all those 9s feels incredible and I’m so excited for the next step in my journey. I can’t wait to study the sciences and work towards my dream of a career in medicine and healthcare, where I hope I can make a real difference to people’s lives.”
Eliana Kuropatwa (eight 9s, two 8s) was equally delighted: “I’m so happy because I’ve got the grades I need to get into my Sixth Form and my hard work paid off. Holme Grange is a great school!”. Eliana’s proud mum, Caminey, added: “I am really delighted and she couldn’t have done it without the amazing support that the teachers and the Senior Leadership Team have given Eliana; they’ve been amazing throughout.”
Harry McDowall (five 9s, four 8s and one 7), who is off to top grammar school, Reading School, enthused: “I am really happy with my results today and I just feel like Holme Grange School, especially my teachers, have given me such a supportive environment to grow; not only academically but as a person as well. When I joined in Year 8, I was on 5s and 6s and now, thanks to the environment they’ve created around me, I’ve been able to reach my full potential.”
Holme Grange continues to achieve well above national standards and even exceeded last year’s extraordinary results across core subjects. This summer pupils accomplished a phenomenal 100% pass rate in English Literature, 99% in Mathematics, 99% in Combined Science (double award) and 96% in English Language.
In Triple Science (Biology, Chemistry and Physics), pupils achieved an outstanding 100% grades 9-6. Several other subjects with a 100% pass rate included: Additional Maths, Art, Craft & Design, Business Studies, Food Preparation & Nutrition, French, German, PE, Religious Studies, Russian, and Spanish. A 100% pass rate was also celebrated in our GCSE equivalent qualifications, offering students a more vocational approach to study; BTEC Music and BTEC Animal Care.
George Randall, one of our top scoring Animal Care candidates, has been awarded a place at Hartpury College in Gloucestershire as a weekly boarder to pursue T Levels in agriculture with a view to farming in Australia after Sixth Form. “I am over the moon; I am really surprised with how I’ve done but I’ve put some effort in and there’s definitely been an outcome! My teachers here have been really supportive, they’ve given a lot of help and they’ve got me to where I am now; I’m really grateful for that.”
The proportion of top grades remained strong with almost half (47%) of grades awarded at 9–7 (over double the national average of 22%) and over two thirds (69%) of grades achieving 9-6 (almost double the national average of 35.6).
Value-added scores for the cohort show that on average students improved their baseline grades by +0.44 per subject, indicating that their Holme Grange experience has added almost half a grade per subject to each one of their GCSE results. This is a tribute to the innovative academic arrangements, high standards of pastoral and academic care, the enthusiasm of our committed staff, and an average class size of 15 pupils.
Matching 2025’s record results, the school recorded an overall pass rate of 97% of grades 9-4 (against a national average of 67%), with 89% of grades once again at 9–5 (5 is deemed a ‘good pass’, suitable for continued study at A Level). This is against a national picture where GCSE results have dipped for the last five years running.
Deputy Head Pastoral and DSL Malcolm McCue commented: “At Holme Grange, we know that young people achieve their best when they feel known, supported and valued. These excellent GCSE results reflect not only the hard work and ambition of our pupils, but the exceptional pastoral care that underpins their experience at school. By placing wellbeing, strong relationships and individual support at the heart of what we do, we give pupils the confidence and security they need to flourish both academically and personally.”
As an aspect of our outstanding pastoral care, Holme Grange prepares each pupil individually for transition to Sixth Form. Head of Year 11 and Transition, Jon Porter-Hughes, said: “We have a strong track record of pupils gaining places at top Sixth Form providers, supported by our Global Competencies Programme which includes a rigorous focus on interview practice, CV building and critical thinking. This is all supported by our comprehensive and wide-ranging Careers Programme across the Senior School.”
Current and recent leavers have been successful in gaining places, as well as scholarships, at a wide range of Sixth Form destinations including: The Abbey Sixth Form, ArtsEd, Academy of Contemporary Music (Guildford), Bradfield College, British College of Agriculture, Charterhouse, City of Oxford College, Gordon’s School, Farnborough College of Technology, Farnborough Sixth Form College, Fashion Retail Academy, Hartpury College, Henley College, Holyport College, Leighton Park Sixth Form, Lord Wandsworth College, Millfield School, Reading School, Reading Blue Coat Sixth Form, Shiplake College, Sir William Borlase, and Wellington College.
