Shuttleworth head praises 'phenomenal' students in hardest ever GCSE year

Shuttleworth headteacher Ruth England with students Daniel Hanna and Miles Archibald-Wright

Ruth England said this year's GCSEs were the hardest ever and had proved a stressful time for everyone sitting them.

She said: "This year has been incredibly stressful for all involved. The new grading and exams system has put everyone under pressure, but our staff and students have been phenomenal.

"The exams have certainly got harder with parts of the curriculum moving down from A-Level. This has been very intimidating for students but this year group has been brilliant."

Shuttleworth students Daniel Hanna, Caitlin Welsh, Emily Greenall and Miles Archibald-Wright

Star pupils Daniel Hanna, Miles Archibald-Wright, Emily Greenall and Caitlin Welsh picked up an impressive collection of results between them.

Daniel, who picked up three '9' marks and four '8s', 1 '7' and two '5s', is going on to study A-Levels at Thomas Whitham Sixth Form.

He said: "It doesn't seem real. I was a bit speechless when I saw the results. I've enjoyed it at Shuttleworth, but I'm looking forward to sixth form, although a little nervous."

Miles Archibald-Wright, who picked up one '9' and two '8s', two '6s' and two '5s', will go on to study an engineering apprenticeship at Burnley College.

Emily Greenall, who is planning to study A-Levels in criminology, law and drama at Thomas Whitham Sixth Form a '7', three '6s' and four '5s', said: "I burst into tears as soon as I opened my results. They were a lot better than I was expecting."

Caitlin Welsh, who collected one '7', six '6s' and two '5's', is another who will be heading to Thomas Whitham. She said she had loved everything about her time at Shuttleworth.