Provisional data highlighting the performance of Bury’s secondary schools has been published by the department for education.

Key Stage 4 data, which is subject to change, shows how well each high school in Bury performed in last years GCSEs.

The data shows the percentage of pupils achieving 9-4 grades in English and Maths along with the percentage of pupils achieving stronger results of 9-5 in English and Maths.

The figures also highlight the percentage of pupils at each school who have achieved the Level 2 threshold of five or more GCSEs graded 9-4.

In Bury, 40 per cent of pupils achieved a grade 5 or higher in English and maths GCSEs compared the national average for state schools at 45%.

The top three performing schools,  ranked by the percentage of pupils achieving five or more good GCSEs, including English and maths  were local authority-maintained schools, included the Manchester Mestiva School and Woodhey High School.

Pupils at the Manchester Mestiva School, in Prestwich, achieved well with 77 per cent of pupils achieving five or more good GCSEs and 90 per cent of pupils achieving English and Maths GCSEs at grades 9-4.

Bury Times: Oliver Morris and Calum Ruddie achieved top GCSE grades

Woodhey High School, in Ramsbottom reported that 55 per cent of pupils achieved a strong 9-5 pass in both English and Maths GCSEs and 69 per cent of pupils achieving standard five good GCSEs at 9-4 including English and Maths.

The figures also included Progress 8 Scores which measures how much progress pupils made at the school between the end Key Stage 2 and the end of Key Stage 4 compared to pupils across England.

The Derby High School was ranked as ‘above average’ for Progress 8 with 78 per cent of pupils achieving strong passes in English and maths GCSEs.

Bury Times: Derby High School GCSEs 2023

The results that were achieved by the students and the school in 2023 were testament to the hard work of both the students and the great team of staff that we have at Woodhey.

Dean Watson, headteacher of Woodhey High School said: “Since September 2022, we have significantly raised expectations of our team in all areas, including learning, behaviour and attendance, and the Class of 2023 thrived under these conditions, achieving the best results in the school’s history.

Bury Times: Kyle Bowkett opening his results

“We are rightfully very proud of our students, and that as a result, we are one of the top performing schools in Bury in a number of metrics, including the number of students achieving five good GCSEs, including English and Maths, and for the number of students achieving a strong pass in English and Maths, as this significantly increases the life chances and the options students have at post-16 when they move onto their next destinations.

“We would like to wish the Class of 2023 the very best of luck for the future.”