Today is the culmination of much hard work by many of our students and staff across London & South East Education Group - with some fantastic success deserving real celebration.
When we all returned to college and school last September, we were hopeful that there would be less disruption than the previous academic year. However, this wasn’t to be. Students and tutors had to, once again, step up to the challenge of teaching, learning and assessing during a pandemic.
All have done a remarkable job in very difficult circumstances. The uncertainty around exams and assessment was difficult and required huge amounts of work to implement robust, quality assurance processes. Students also had to work hard to evidence their knowledge, while living through the challenges of lockdown.
I am therefore absolutely delighted and hugely proud of what all our students have achieved today. GCSE results across our college and schools have all continued to improve over a three-year period, despite the very real and unprecedented circumstances of a global pandemic.
I would like to thank staff who have worked tirelessly to ensure students have achieved the grades they deserve – enabling them to progress successfully into further education, apprenticeships and fulfilling employment.
As an education group, we support people from the age of five through to adulthood – with 500 of the Group's GCSE results being achieved by adults who have returned to learning. In today’s rapidly changing world, upskilling and re-skilling has never been so important and we are delighted to be in a position to support our local communities to do this.
For our 16 year olds receiving exam results today, this has been an overwhelming year and I congratulate every single one of them for their hard work, resilience and determination. For those who haven’t got the results they had hoped for, please be reassured that there are many options open and support available.
We now look forward to the next academic year. While we hope for far less disruption, our staff will continue to rise to every challenge and ensure every student is supported to reach their full potential.
With kindest regards
Dr Sam Parrett CBE, CEO and Group Principal, London & South East Education Group