Dubai: Anxious UAE students and parents on Thursday collected their O-Level (IGCSE/GCSE) results, with many schools reporting stellar grades, above UK averages.
GEMS schools posted a record number of students — over 1,300 — who took the exams. The education provider said 42 per cent of all grades achieved across GEMS schools were A* (A-star) to A.
At Dubai British School (DBS), a school of the Taaleem group, the results were “the best ever”, with 53 per cent of all grades being A* to A.
In Abu Dhabi, Al Yasmina Academy, part of Aldar Academies, celebrated a pass rate of 98 per cent, with 11 students achieving ten or more A* to A grades.
Comparatively in the UK, just 6.5 per cent of the 5.24 million students this year scored A*, while A* to C grades fell from 69 per cent to 66.9 per cent, marking the lowest performance since 2008. One reason is that more pupils in England had to retake English and Maths exams, experts said.
The total number of UAE-based students who sat for the tests this year was not immediately available.
Ruth Burke, principal and CEO of GEMS Wellington International School, Dubai, said the “focus and partnership” with parents “is paying dividends”. She also praised the “expertise of our teachers” and hard work of the students.
DBS principal Brendon Fulton said Thursday was “an exceptionally proud day at DBS, as we celebrated the school’s best-ever set of GCSE results”, in which 99 per cent of DBS students achieved at least five A* to C grades and 18 per cent of students achieved at least ten A*/A grades.
These figures are significantly higher than UK national averages, he pointed out, “setting our students up wonderfully for a successful A-Level experience”.
Fulton added: “As a principal, it is always a pleasure to watch tears of joy as the children come in to receive their results, and to watch them thank the teachers who didn’t stop believing in them and pushed them through to the finish line …”
There were also tears of joy at GEMS Wellington, where parents, students and friends embraced each other after seeing the results. Indian student Anushka Menon topped the school with 12 A*s (A-stars).
Parveen Rasheed, an Indian mother of a student at the same school, was crying while going over the results sheet.
“I’m immensely relieved. My daughter Fatima has done so well — eight A*s and two As. She worked so hard towards it, she deserves it. I was so nervous, I didn’t sleep last night. I’m very proud,” she said.
At Al Yasmina Academy, Mohammad Al Dhaeri was the school topper with nine A* to B grades — five of them A* or A. Principal Dr Tim Hughes said: “This is an incredible achievement for our hard-working students, their families, and their teachers. There have been notable performances across a range of subjects … with almost 100 per cent pass rates.”
It was a similar story at Al Bateen Academy, also part of Aldar, where the top five students all earned ten or more A* to A grades.
“Overall the year group has performed incredibly well with some exceptional individual student results,” said principal David Hutson.
School toppers
12 A*, 1 A: Jasmina Eldamanhoury, Jumeirah College Dubai
12 A*: Anushka Venugopal Menon, GEMS Wellington International School
11 A*, 3 A: Ines Roze, Jumeirah College Dubai
11 A*: Kelly Stewart, Jumeirah College Dubai
11 A*: Omar Mustafa Mohammad Al Khatib, GEMS Wellington International School
11 A*: Ameerah Parvez, GEMS Wellington Academy — Silicon Oasis
