The Christmas Concert on Tuesday 11^th December formed the pinnacle of a busy festive season.

Past pupil Morag Tinto returned as Guest of Honour at Friends’ GCSE Reception where Old Scholars’ Prize winners received their awards for outstanding achievement at GCSE level. Pupis who all gained A* grades in each of their ten subjects include Ethan Millar, Frances Atcheson, Alana Rogan, Rachel Geddis, Kate Boomer, Lara Hatwell and Ross Little.

Speech Day was held at Friends’ School on Friday 7 September, when certificates and progress files were handed out to those who had completed AS and A-level examinations in 2018. The Guest of Honour was Neil Gibson, media commentator and Chief Economist for all Ireland at Ernst and Young. Neil was previously involved with Oxford Economics and was also head of the Northern Ireland Centre for Economic Policy at Ulster University.

Congratulations to all those who received GCSE results today. Everyone at school is delighted with the success achieved.

72% of the grades obtained by pupils were at A* or A, with 92% at grade B or above, which is on a par with last year’s exceptional results

Six pupils who achieved 10 A*s and four pupils gained a total of 9 A*s. 47 pupils out of 138 – more than a third of the year group – gained 10 A* and A grades, and 98% of those who sat GCSEs this year gained 7 or more passes at A*-C, including English and Maths.

Thank you to the staff without whose hard work and dedication this would not be possible.

Congratulations to all of our pupils who received A2 and AS results today. Everyone in School is delighted with what has been achieved, and pupils and their parents can be proud of the high standards attained.

A very pleasing 89% of pupils gained 3 or more grades at A*-C at A-level, with 45% of entries at A*-A, and 78% at A*-B. There are so many individual success stories that it would not be possible to mention them all, but of particular note are Georgia Edmonds, who finished with a total of 5 A*s, Matthew Mackinnon and Jonathan Edwards, who both achieved 4 A*s, and David Cleland and Peter Fox who obtained 3 A*s and one A.

At AS level, the overall performance was also pleasing, with a total of 41 pupils achieving at least 3 A grades, of whom 14 gained a magnificent total of 4 As.

Best wishes to our leavers well as they move on to the next stage of their lives, and we look forward to further success next year for everyone who took AS examinations. And last but not least, thank you to all of the staff who worked so hard to help pupils achieve this success.