'High staff turnover' blamed for English slump

Les Varendes High School saw an improvement in its Attainment 8 results in 2025

High turnover of staff has "not helped" students studying for their GCSEs in Guernsey, according to the president of Education, Sport and Culture (ESC).

Deputy Paul Montague said: "I think it is the first thing that we really want to work on. But our schools look in a better place from September."

Some students at La Mare said it had "been a struggle" due to a lot of supply teachers in the last few years, which had led to what they described as a "lack of consistency".

In 2025, Guernsey's States' schools saw a dramatic drop off in English results, but after an effort by the States there were improvements in Maths.

Montague said: "I think from September the three 11-16 schools are starting from a better foundation in terms of staffing.

"There are far fewer vacancies... and I really want to make sure we get real stability in that staffing so staff can develop their practice and become better at delivering those exam grades for those youngsters."

Following the release of the GCSE results Montague said: "These results mark the culmination of years of learning and effort; students collecting their envelopes today should feel proud of what they've achieved."

Montague blamed part of the decline in English grades on a change in the qualification delivered in recent years.

"So we've had a change of course, and I think that goes some way to explain that drop, but certainly that is not something we're happy with and we will be investigating and really trying to find out why it happened, and more importantly what we can do to make sure that the youngsters next year, we boost those scores again.

"Because actually our English language and literature has been doing very well over the past few years, we've been making steady progress."

'Impacted my grades'

One student who collected their results at La Mare said there was "uncertainty with whether school is going to close meaning teachers don't want to stay if they can't be sure they will still have a job left".

"We have had supply teachers and a lot of mix arounds and it has not been great as it takes a while to get to know a teacher and their style but by that time they are already gone."

Some students added that their home learning had positively contributed towards their GCSE results.

On Thursday, 72% of all GCSE and equivalent results in the Bailiwick were graded 4 and above, compared to 67.1% in the UK.

However, it is worth noting that in Guernsey 30% of these results are from private schools compared to 6% in Britain.

Deputy Paul Montague was elected as President of Education, Sport and Culture in July

In 2025, 57.5% of all students at States maintained schools received a grade of 4 or above in English, a dramatic drop from 68.6% last year.

There have been improvements in Maths grades though after a concerted effort by education to improve scores.

Last year 51.4% of students in States schools received a 4 or above in Maths, while this year that figure increased to 55.9%.

In the private sector, Blanchelande College reported almost a third of its pupils achieved the three highest grades of 7 to 9 - equivalent to an A or A* - while Elizabeth College said 43% of its pupils got 7 to 9 grades.