Pupils in Barnet have secured top GCSE grades at nearly twice the national rate, according to provisional results that put the north London borough ahead of both London and England at every stage of education.
Forty-two per cent of GCSE grades awarded in the borough were at grade 7 or above — the equivalent of the old A and A* — compared with a national average of 21.8 per cent and a London average of 28.6 per cent. The figures, drawn from 26 of Barnet’s 28 secondaries with Year 11 pupils, confirm the borough’s place among the capital’s strongest performers.
The strength in depth is striking too: 82 per cent of grades were at grade 4 or higher — a standard pass — against 67 per cent nationally and 71.7 per cent across London, while 79 per cent of students achieved a grade 4 or above in both English and maths.
Cllr Pauline Coakley Webb, the council’s cabinet member for Family Friendly Barnet, said: “These excellent provisional results are a tremendous achievement and reflect the hard work of pupils, teachers, school staff, governors and families throughout Barnet. We are extremely proud that children and young people across the borough continue to perform so strongly at every stage of their education, with results once again exceeding national averages.”
Success was not confined to GCSEs. At A-level, 39 per cent of Barnet grades were A* or A, well ahead of 28.5 per cent nationally and 32.7 per cent in London, while 84 per cent fell between A* and C compared with 78.4 per cent across the country. Vocational students also shone, with some schools reporting record hauls of Distinction* and Distinction grades, and the borough’s second cohort of T-level students — from Saracens High School and Barnet and Southgate College — moved on to university and employment.
The foundations look strong lower down the school years as well. By the end of Key Stage 2, Barnet’s attainment sat in the top quarter nationally, and progress between Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 placed the borough in the top 5 to 10 per cent in the country.
Cllr Webb added: “Whether young people choose an academic, technical or vocational route, we want them to have the opportunities and support they need to fulfil their potential.” Final validated results will be published later in the autumn term.
What the numbers mean
A grade 7 at GCSE is pegged to the old grade A, so 42 per cent at 7 or above means more than two in five Barnet entries hit what was once the preserve of the most able. Nationally, just over one in five managed it, and even London — itself well above the national average — trails Barnet by more than 13 percentage points. The gap at the standard pass threshold is similarly wide: 82 per cent at grade 4 or above in Barnet versus 67 per cent nationally. It is a bright spot in a mixed national picture for exams: while London schools have bucked the national decline in GCSE languages, schools everywhere have wrestled with funding pressures and staffing — and the profession faces a potential strike ballot, with the NEU deciding this week whether to ballot members.
A borough that expects a lot from its schools
Barnet has long been one of London’s most educationally ambitious boroughs. Its 28 secondaries with Year 11 cohorts include some of the country’s most celebrated comprehensives and grammars, and families move into the borough — and pay a premium to do so — for the schools. That culture cuts both ways: results like these raise the bar every year, and the council’s “Family Friendly Barnet” banner, under which Cllr Webb speaks, makes education a civic calling card. Barnet’s schools have also been in the headlines this term for other reasons, including a Barnet academy referred to the equality watchdog over its uniform policy. But the borough’s primaries feed the academic success too — top-10 per cent progress scores between the ages of 7 and 11 suggest the GCSE triumphs are built, not bought.
For the teenagers who opened those envelopes in August, the numbers translate into choices: sixth forms, apprenticeships and university places. For Barnet, they translate into bragging rights — and a reminder that on London’s education map, the northern heights remain hard to beat.
