Windermere School Celebrates Outstanding GCSE Results

Windermere School pupils celebrated their success and hard work on 21 August 2025, as they collected their GCSE results. 2025 is the first year of our new GCSE curriculum with both Years 10 and 11 taking up to three of their GCSEs in one year. We are delighted with how well both year groups have done with pass rates of 83% in Year 11 and 87% in Year 10.

Pupils take two-year GCSEs in Maths, English Language, Literature and Modern Languages. Other GCSEs are taken over one year, with double time allocated. This spreads the academic pressure and gives them vital exam experience in Year 10 for further success in Year 11.

Our pupils exceeded the national pass rate (67.1%) by over 15% and achieved a substantial value-added score of 0.32, meaning for each subject every student on average gained a third of a grade above national expectations. 40% of our pupils’ scores were grades 9-7, almost double the national average of 21.8%.

Notable individual successes include Billy, who scored nine grade 9s and an A grade in Additional Maths. Merry and Amy both scored three 9s, three 8s and three 7s, and Isaac achieved one 9, six 8s and two 7s.

Windermere pupils almost all take a wide range of subjects at GCSE, covering all areas of the English Baccalaureate which is excellent preparation for the breadth of the International Baccalaureate offered at Sixth Form as well as vocational courses in Adventure and Business which can lead to the IB Career Pathway qualification.

Head, Frank Thompson said, “The restructuring of the curriculum to allow the taking GCSE examinations to be spread over two years has worked well. Pupils entering Year 11 have already got up to three grades under their belts and know what is required to succeed because they have already walked the walk. We are a non-selective school, and these impressive results again show the progress achieved from the hard work of both pupils and staff. Pupils ranging from the most academically able to those who find academic studies more challenging thrive at Windermere due to our small classes and individual attention and we are looking forward to working with them in our Sixth Form, where this year’s students again did impressively well.”

We offer a mixture of IGCSEs and GCSEs which suits the pupils well. Universities draw no distinction between the two examination types and the combination ensures that the school can continue to offer courses to the pupils which are best suited to their aspirations.

At Sixth Form we offer multiple pathways including the International Baccalaureate Diploma and Career Pathways and a Vocational route. Students can study Business BTEC, Adventure NCFE or even both. After Sixth Form the majority of our students go on to higher education including Russell Group and QS World top 100 universities as well as graduate apprenticeships with leading employers.

Windermere School is an Independent Boarding and Day School for ages 3-18, across Junior School, Senior School and Sixth Form. The school offers holiday courses and a summer school programme, as well as short term immersion courses for international pupils, as well as an award winning IB programme. Join the adventure today >