LEYTON: Closure threat school celebrates GCSE pass rate increase (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)

LEYTON: Closure threat school celebrates GCSE pass rate increase

9:53am Thursday 27th August 2009 in Waltham Forest News By Carl Brown

A SCHOOL threatened with closure last year has hit back by recording a sharp increase in its GCSE pass rate.

The number of pupils at George Mitchell School, in Farmer Road, achieving five A* to C grades (including English and Maths) has leapt by seven percent to 37 per cent.

The school's pass rate has increased by 15 per cent in just three years.

Headteacher Helen Jeffery today said: “I am not just proud that students of all abilities attain good academic standards at George Mitchell, ours is a lovely school into which we welcome and nurture young people from all backgrounds.”

In June last year, George Mitchell was one of 638 schools nationally to be told it must meet a target of 30 per cent of its pupils achieving A to C grades or face closure.

It has now been removed from the hit list of schools threatened with closure.

This was despite receiving a good Ofsted report three years ago and being rated as the eighth best school in the borough in this year's contextual value added tables, which take into account pupils' backgrounds.