BRADON Forest School’s headteacher Andrew Morrison applauded his GCSE cohort’s results and said they continued an upward trend since Ofsted ruled the school required improvement.

In May, the education watchdog found the school was not meeting the standards expected of it, and since then Mr Morrison said the teachers had been instilling a culture of aspiration among their pupils.

The school returned its best results yesterday, with 62 per cent of pupils achieving the gold standard of five A* to C grades, including maths and English.

Mr Morrison said: “We are delighted with this set of results. It continues the achievement we have shown in the past six months. Since our Ofsted report we have worked hard to improve, and these results continue that upward trend.

“This is a really positive message coming from us. It’s onwards and upwards, we have got to keep this going.

“We have put in a lot of changes over the last year. Particularly this year, we have tried to raise aspirations.

“We want students to realise what other people are doing in other schools and raise their aspirations.

“There has been an amazing response to that. We have been gobsmacked with the way the students are responding to this new push.”

The school took great pride in the fact half of its students had taken biology, chemistry and physics, alongside humanities – subjects rated favourably by universities and employers.

Twenty-one students also gained eight or more A to A* grades.

l Isambard Community School returned identical results to those opened in 2013, when 57 per cent of students achieved five or more A* to C grades, including maths and English.

Sue Banks, the deputy headteacher at the school, said: “We are pleased with the results. A lot of our students have worked very hard this year.

“I don’t think there will be many who will be disappointed. The vast majority will be able to move onto their post-16 education choices.”

One of those who will be returning to the Redhouse Way school to continue their GCSE studies next month will be Mollie O’Neill, 15, of Redhouse.

Mollie finished Year 10 with three A*s, an A and a B, and now has her sights set on matching that success ahead of her departure from the school next year.

She said: “It’s not what I was expecting at all. I thought I might get all Bs. It’s a bigger challenge to do these exams before Year 11, but it makes for less pressure in 12 months time.”

Amy Hamilton, 16, of Abbey Meads, secured her place at Swindon College next month with three Ds and four Cs to add to her grades from Years Nine and 10.

She said: “Trying to get the coursework done on time is the biggest struggle. My parents were a big help.”