Brecon High School

THE comprehensive, which was placed in special measures last year, saw a 10 per cent improvement in the crucial indicator of pupils achieving five good passes at A star to C including mathematics and English or Welsh.

The percentage of pupils achieving the benchmark, known as level two inclusive threshold, increased to 66 per cent.

Headteacher Rob Broadbridge said: "The results achieved this year show real progress in terms of both attainment and achievement of our Year 11 pupils."

Top of the class was Erin Blackburn with 11 A stars and one A grade, Rowan Starkey achieved eight A’s, two B’s and one C, Pia Smith achieved three A stars and seven A grades and Rhodri Powell-Jones achieved two A stars, six A’s and three B’s.

The school said 99 per cent of its pupils achieved at least five GCSEs at A star to G grade.

The school’s overall A star to C pass rate was 78 per cent, an increase of seven per cent on last year.

Crickhowell High School

A QUARTER of the school’s year 11 pupils gained five or more A star or A grades with 11 per cent achieving 10 or more A star and A grades.

Headteacher Jackie Parker said: "These outstanding results reflect the significant improvement in attainment the school has made over the last five years. This is down to excellent teaching and learning, the hard work and dedication from our students, staff and governors, combined with incredible support from parents and the wider community."

The level two inclusive benchmark figure of five good GCSE passes, including maths and English, was 77 per cent, a five per cent improvement on last year.

Gwernyfed High School, Three Cocks

PUPILS achieved the school’s second best ever set of results with 70.3 per cent of them gaining five top passes including maths and English.

The schools said the figure is two per cent down on the percentage of pupils achieving the benchmark last year.

Among the top performers were Lil Biggs with 10 A stars, India Hulbert who gained six A stars and four A’s, Cerys McNamara with a hat-trick of A stars and six A’s, Ruby Morgan also had three A stars and three A’s, Lila Phillips-Lebailly gained four A stars and six A’s, Maisie Thomas gained three A stars and seven A’s, Theo Brotherton-Ratcliffe got four A stars and four A’s, Jacob Evans had five A stars and three A’s, Harri Hughes had five A stars and four A’s and Louis Rodell-Grenow had three A stars and two A’s.

Head John Williams said: "There are so many individual stories in this cohort which means this set of results deserve to be celebrated. The performance of some pupils regardless of ability to overcome barriers to learning has been outstanding. Our committed staff have all given of their time to ensure these young people reach their potential."

John Beddoes, Presteigne

The school became a campus of Newtown High School last year and this academic year had been the first full year of the model.

The percentage of pupils reaching the level two inclusive benchmark hit 74 per cent, a 95 per cent increase since 2013 when Newtown High first took over the east Radnorshire school.

Top achievers included Megan Roberts with 10 A grades, Holly Price two A stars, seven A’s and one B , Ed Lynch one A star, six A’s, three B’s and one C.

Year 10 pupil Daniel Beckett also gained an A star, one A and two C’s while Liz Preston and Jazmin Price both sat mathematics a year early and gained A stars following the school’s more able and talented programme which also saw five pupils in year nine attain A grades.

The school said across both campuses there was a 14 per cent increase in pupils achieving the level two threshold.

Llandrindod High School

The spa town school was placed in special measures in December but pupils have achieved its best results in five years.

The school also recorded a massive 15.9 per cent increase in the percentage of pupils achieving the level two inclusive benchmark, which has reached 69.2 per cent.

Among the 23 students who gained five or more A star or A grades were Non Dingle with six A stars and four A’s and one B, Breanna Downey also gained six A stars and four A’s while Grace Davis gained five A stars and five A’s.

Other top performers included Olivia Adams three A stars, six A’s and one B, Emma Jeffs gained three A stars, six A’s and one B, Chloe Morris two A stars, seven A’s and one B, Ieuan Davies had five A stars, four A’s and one B, Amy Dunne had three A stars, five A’s and two B’s, Jess Layton and Gurleen Kaur both had three A stars and five A’S while Rupert Storer, Jess Bray, Liam Price and Elleah Smith shared five A stars 27 A’s between them.

Ysgol Maesydderwen, Ystradgynlais

NEARLY all of the year 11 students at the Tudor Street school gained five or more GCSEs at grades A star to C with 98 per cent gaining top passes.

Top of the class was Joshua Davies with a truly A-mazing 13 A star grades and a further 4 A grades on top

The percentage gaining five top passes, including maths and English was 63 per cent, a nine per cent improvement on last year.

Star pupils included Helen Anthony with seven A star grades and three B grades, Nia McLennan gained five A stars, two A’s and one B grade, Abigail Thomas gained one A star, five A grades and two B grades, Rhys Jones two A stars, five A’s and four B’s and Iestyn Jenkins gained one A star, four A’s, five B’s and one C.

The 98 per cent overall pass rate had also increased by nine per cent and the school said pupils had also enjoyed success in Welsh Baccalaureate and BTEC qualifications.

The Samaritans charity has reminded anyone struggling because of their results, or worried about a friend or relative, it offers support round the clock, every day of the year.

"Samaritans volunteers are here round the clock and we keep conversations private and we won’t judge", said Phil King, director of the Brecon and Radnor Samaritans branch in Llandrindod Wells.

As well as calling the helpline; 01597 823000; Samaritans can be contacted by SMS or email [email protected]

This article was amended after we were alerted to an error in Joshua Davies' results.