Mayor's Congratulations as Bedford Borough Schools Top the Region for GCSEs

Mayor Dave Hodgson has repeated his congratulations to schools and students after the final published GCSE results data placed Bedford Borough at the top of the eastern region.

The government's new yardstick for GCSE performance, Progress 8, measures the progress a pupil makes from the end of primary school to the end of secondary school. Under this new official measure, Bedford Borough's results were the very best across the eastern region.

Commenting, Mayor Dave Hodgson said: "Well done to all the students and staff on their achievements. These results illustrate the excellent work going on in our schools, and that is a testament to everyone involved across school communities.

Cllr Henry Vann, Liberal Democrat Portfolio Holder for Education at Bedford Borough Council, said: "A huge well done to every young person - and all their teachers - who worked so hard for these results. Bedford Borough being ranked as 1st in the region for Progress 8 is great news."

In addition to being 1st in the region, Bedford Borough's Progress 8 score places it 25th out of the 152 local authorities across the country. Meanwhile, the Borough is ranked first among its group of eleven statistical neighbours, with which it shares similar, comparable characterisitcs.

Under Attainment 8, which is a measure of overall attainment rather than progress, the results across the Borough's schools also beat the national average.

Attainment 8 is calculated for all schools, Progress 8 is calculated for state-funded schools and non-maintained special schools only.