YOUNG people in Hartlepool are celebrating after achieving record-breaking GCSE results.

Over 1,200 16-year-olds took the examinations and the early indications are that the results are the best in the town’s history.

The provisional results are:

• 65.8% of students achieved five or more A*-C grades compared with 65.7% nationally. This is a 4% improvement on last year compared with a 2.4% improvement nationally and represents a 14% improvement over the last four years.

• 97.3% of pupils obtained at least one GCSE pass.

• The number of pupils who achieved five GCSE passes was 91.3%.

• The number of pupils achieving one or more A*-A grades is 36.1% compared with 20.7% nationally.

• The number of pupils achieving five or more A*-C grades including English and Maths is 38.7%, an increase of 0.1%.

• No schools are below the Government’s minimum target of 30% of students achieving five or more A*-C grades including English and Maths.


Adrienne Simcock, Hartlepool Council’s Director of Children’s Services, said: “We are once again delighted with the progress our secondary schools have made this year as evidenced by these results.

“The teachers, pupils and parents involved deserve our whole-hearted congratulations. Nearly two thirds of Hartlepool 16-year-olds achieved five or more good grades at GCSE this year. This tremendous achievement means that we have now overtaken the national results.”

Councillor Cath Hill, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, added: “As a Council we are committed to improving standards in Hartlepool schools.

“Today’s results come on the back of the excellent results recently announced for our primary schools and confirm that the resources that have been invested in recent years are having a definite impact.

“Everyone involved – pupils, parents, schools and the Children’s Services Department – should feel proud of what has been achieved this year and I warmly congratulate them.”

Residents of Elm Tree Caravan Park in Hartlepool can look forward to cosy homes this winter thanks to funding from a Government grant designed to help families and the elderly heat their homes.

Residents of Elm Tree Park in Seaton Carew are so delighted with the help they’ve received from eaga, the Government’s provider of the Warm Front Scheme and their local MP Iain Wright that they’ve invited them to see the scheme for themselves.

Speaking about the Elm Tree Park initiative, MP for Hartlepool, Iain Wright said: “Elm Tree Park is an over 50s residential site where the majority of residents were heating their homes using Liquid Petroleum Gas. This was very expensive and many residents had to turn their heating off simply because they couldn’t afford to run it. I raised this situation with eaga and also highlighted it in Parliament.

“Now, as a result of working with eaga, the Warm Front Scheme and a number of other partners, I am pleased that residents on the site can look forward to a much more comfortable lifestyle with homes that are warm and cost effective to run. This really is an excellent example of partnership working to achieve the best results for local people. “

To qualify for the Warm Front Scheme residents must either own their home or live in private rented accommodation and should be in receipt of a qualifying benefit. To date more than 1.7 million households have benefitted from the scheme since it started in June 2000 to tackle fuel poverty and support some of the country’s most vulnerable homes.

Speaking about the work, Dennis Muspratt, Chair of the Elm Tree Park Resident’s Association who pushed for the work said: “Thanks to the Warm Front Grant and the support of our local MP, Iain Wright, we’re all looking forward to warm homes, a more comfortable lifestyle and fewer cold related illnesses as a result of living in cold homes.

“We couldn’t thank eaga and the Warm Front scheme enough for all their help and it’s for that reason we’ve invited the project team, our local MP and the many other people who’ve supported us to come along and see for themselves the very real difference this Scheme has made to our quality of lives.”

Plans for the scheme originally started in April 2007 with the final home being completed in May this year. Partners involved in the process have included Elm Tree Park Resident Association, eaga, Iain Wright MP, Hartlepool Voluntary Development Organisation, the site owner and ES Pipelines.

Speaking about the scheme, Jayne Hill project manager at eaga said: “It’s been a real pleasure to work with the residents of Elm Tree Park getting this scheme off the ground and now seeing it complete. This is exactly what the Warm Front Scheme is designed to do; support vulnerable and often elderly residents heat their homes in a way which is both safe and cost effective. eaga is delighted to have been part of such a worthwhile scheme.”

To find out more about the Warm Front Scheme and see if they qualify, residents can call the free phone War m Front help line on 0800 316 6005.