King William's College private school bucks GCSE grade drop trend

King William's College is in the south of the Isle of Man

Students at a private school on the Isle of Man have bucked the trend of falling GCSE results in England.

King William's College Year 11 students returned a pass rate of 91% with 49% achieving A or A*, up 2% on 2021.

Although the Castletown school's overall pass rate had not surpassed 2020's record high, those with the highest grades have risen 11% on 2019.

But the education department said data on the overall pass rate achieved in its schools was not yet available.

About 800 students at the island's five state-run received their results on Thursday.

A spokesman said the current focus of the department was supporting the students with their transition to the sixth form or into the workplace.

Results in England showed although marks had fallen from the teacher-assessed grades awarded in 2021 as a result of Covid, the overall pass rate was up on pre-pandemic years.

It comes after the island's A-Level students achieved an overall pass rate of 98.8%, with 51.4% graded between B to A*.