Leicester faith school celebrates first ever set of GCSE results

Twins Rafaela (left) and Regina said receiving the school's first grades felt "special"

Students at one of Leicester's newest schools have celebrated receiving its first ever set of GCSE results.

Avanti Fields School in Hamilton opened in 2018 and the first cohort of students received their results on Thursday.

Nisha Kholia, headteacher at the Hindu faith school, said she was "delighted" with the students' achievements.

It comes as results were set to drop for a second year running nationally - falling to 2019 levels in England.

Hinal (right) collected her results with her father Shashikiran

The school's highest achiever, Hinal, only moved to Leicester from Mozambique in 2020.

She says she plans to study her A-levels at college after receiving the equivalent of 8s and 9s across the board.

"I'm so happy but I was so shocked when they said [I was the school's highest achiever]," she said.

"Over in Mozambique I did English as a second language but over here I studied it as a first language.

"I was really shocked because of the difference. The teachers were so supportive and helped me shape myself in the best way I can."

'Over the moon'

GCSEs are now graded using a numerical system - from 9-1 rather than A-E - since a new grading system was rolled out in England from 2017.

Students need a 4 for a "standard pass" and 5 for a "strong pass".

Others receiving their grades were identical twins Rafaela and Regina, who both said they were "over the moon" with their efforts.

Regina said: "I could not eat anything or sleep last night but we're both really pleased but we're both over the moon.

"We're so different - our strengths are in different subjects - I'm better at things like RE and Rafaela is better at drama."

Rafaela added: "It feels quite special [to be the first year to sit GCSEs] because they've never done it here before. They did put pressure on us but they supported us really well."

Headteacher Nisha Kholia praised both staff and students for their efforts

Many of the students who received their results were also in the first cohort that attended the Krishna Avanti Primary School in Evington, which opened in 2011, the school said.

The school's headteacher Nisha Kholia said: "We are absolutely delighted to celebrate the efforts of our first year 11 cohort.

"It has been a privilege to see this group grow to become the kind, accomplished and well-grounded young people they are today.

"It's been a challenging time but we're delighted with how the students have taken on that challenge and shown the determination and resilience to get to where they need to be."