Academic: GCSE The GCSE years in Middle School are ones of increased academic momentum.  Pupils choose three option subjects at the end of the Third Form, and at least one Modern Foreign Languages (in nearly all cases), to go with compulsory 'core' GCSE's (Maths, English, Science, RS), with a possible combination adding to 11 GCSE's.  All compulsory subjects are taught in subject-specific sets, and set sizes are kept small (the current Fourth Form have six sets in each core GCSE subject).  In this way we believe Denstone is an optimal size, being big enough to offer a wide choice of options and appropriate setting, but small enough to offer good pastoral care and academic oversight. Some pupils are "fast tracked", for example by taking Spanish GCSE at the end of the Fourth Form, and several departments now enter pupils for GCSE modules at this time.  At the end of the Michaelmas term in the Fifth Form, pupils choose their preferred AS Level options, and tutors provide vital advice in this. Although an education at Denstone is genuinely holistic, academic priorities rightly come first, and the results are impressive.  These results are achieved with a relatively broad intake of pupils into the College, a fact reflected in outstanding value-added measures in recent years;  in 2010 Denstone was ranked within the top 5% of participating nationally for its value added performance at GCSE (as measured by the widely-used Yellis project). Such success requires high standards, and none less so than in the requirement to enter the Sixth Form, which currently stands at 11 points for pupils at Denstone and 15 points for pupils wishing to join the College in our Sixth Form(a C at GCSE is 1 point, a B is 2 points etc). These requirements will rise to 14 points for pupils at Denstone and 16 points for external candidates for entry to our Sixth Form from September 2013. A significant number of Denstonians achieve all A*/A's, but for others this is an entry target that spurs them on.  What supports them in these efforts is an environment that applauds success, very good teaching by subject specialists, and a level of academic and pastoral mentoring that genuinely cherishes the individual. Results for 2011 Subject Total A* A B C D E F U %A* %A*A %A*-B %A*-C Art 33 18 9 5 1 0 0 0 0 54.5 81.8 97.0 100 Biology 37 14 18 4 1 0 0 0 0 37.8 86.5 97.3 100 Business Studies 23 0 4 8 9 2 0 0 0 0.0 17.4 52.2 91.3 Chemistry 37 15 18 3 1 0 0 0 0 40.5 89.2 97.3 100 Chinese 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 DT 30 8 12 8 2 0 0 0 0 26.7 66.7 93.3 100 Drama 21 12 7 2 0 0 0 0 0 57.1 90.5 100.0 100 English Lang GCE 81 4 23 27 25 2 0 0 0 4.9 33.3 66.7 97.5 English Lit GCE 77 13 36 18 10 0 0 0 0 16.9 63.6 87.0 100 French 37 4 7 6 10 9 1 0 0 10.8 29.7 45.9 73.0 Geography 17 2 2 5 4 2 2 0 0 11.8 23.5 52.9 76.5 History 46 9 12 7 10 4 3 1 0 19.6 45.7 60.9 82.6 ICT 28 1 15 12 0 0 0 0 0 3.6 57.1 100 100 Mathematics 81 9 28 20 22 2 0 0 0 11.1 45.7 70.4 97.5 Music 11 0 6 4 1 0 0 0 0 0.0 54.5 90.9 100 PE 27 6 6 13 2 0 0 0 0 22.2 44.4 92.6 100 Physics 37 16 13 7 1 0 0 0 0 43.2 78.4 97.3 100 Religious Studies 79 14 34 19 12 0 0 0 0 17.7 60.8 84.8 100 Russian 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 100 100 100 Science 44 4 16 22 2 0 0 0 0 9.1 45.5 95.5 100 Science (Add) 44 3 11 21 8 1 0 0 0 6.8 31.8 79.5 97.7 Spanish 39 1 12 17 8 1 0 0 0 2.6 33.3 76.9 97.4                             Totals 831 155 289 228 129 23 6 1 0 18.7 53.4 80.9 96.4 % of Total   18.7 34.8 27.4 15.5 2.8 0.7 0.1           Cumulative %   18.7 53.4 80.9 96.4 99.2 99.9 100.0                                       Avg GCSE pass 9.9                                                                                 Summary: 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 % A* 18.7 29.7 22.7 15.9 23.3 15.4 20.8 9.8 14.0 3.7 9.4 7.5 3.5 % A*A 53.4 62.6 56.5 49.1 48.8 41.2 47.0 32.0 47.4 27.4 32.3 25.7 24.2 % A*AB 80.9 83.9 80.5 80.1 72.3 71.0 73.9 60.0 74.4 56.0 58.0 59.2 49.9 % A*ABC 96.4 96.7 94.3 95.8 94.8 92.1 93.6 90.7 93.5 87.5 88.9 85.7 85.6