The Whole Person Rewarded: Shrewsbury's Fifth Form Celebrate Outstanding GCSE Results

Shrewsbury pupils are celebrating the best set of GCSE results in recent years and a fourth consecutive year of improvement for the school, with nearly a quarter of all grades awarded at the highest Grade 9.    

The school’s Fifth Formers were awarded 867 grades at 9–7 (A*–A), with pupils achieving, on average, better than a Grade 7 across all subjects, a remarkable achievement and testament to the hard work, ambition and whole person commitment of a talented year group.   

Among the highest achievers, individual performances were exceptional. Leading the way, seven pupils achieved an outstanding 69 Grade 9s between them, with two earning eleven each, two earning ten, and three earning nine, with several Grade 8s.    

Twelve pupils earned a fantastic clean sweep of Grade 9-8 across all their subjects - and this strength ran right through the year group, with 45% of all grades awarded at 9 or 8.   

Pupils consistently achieved beyond what was expected of them, with 65% of all grades awarded at 7 or above (former A*–A grades), high quality teaching has successfully combined with the pupils’ hard work to ensure that individuals have consistently achieved or exceeded their targets.  

Shrewsbury's Headmaster, Leo Winkley, said:   

"These outstanding GCSE results are the best in recent years for Shrewsbury. Our teaching and pastoral staff have worked energetically in support of each pupil’s personal best.    

“I am absolutely delighted to see our pupils rewarded for their consistent efforts. Behind every one of these results is a whole person journey. We look forward to seeing them start Sixth Form with the confidence that comes from these terrific results."  

Dan Reeve, Deputy Head, Academic, said:   

"These results mark a fourth consecutive year of continuous improvement for Shrewsbury and to see pupils consistently achieving beyond their expectations is a real achievement.   

"We are hugely grateful to our teachers and to our academic and pastoral leaders, whose dedication and care support every pupil to achieve an outstanding personal best. It has been a delight to see this cohort rewarded for their tremendous hard work."   

Measured against where pupils began, these results represent an average gain of over two-thirds (+0.7) of a grade per pupil — showing that a Shrewsbury education both nurtures the whole person and supports each individual to exceed their own expectations.   

The majority of the year group will progress into Shrewsbury's Sixth Form, continuing their journey at the school as they move towards A Levels and their next destinations.    

This summer's Upper Sixth leavers went on to a superb range of destinations, including five to Oxbridge, international offers from Harvard, Toronto, Hong Kong and Columbia, and UK places at Imperial, UCL, Durham, Edinburgh, LSE and Warwick, with almost 80% heading to World Top 200 universities – the kind of futures this year group can now aspire to as they begin their own Sixth Form journey.   

This latest set of results caps a remarkable year for Shrewsbury. The school has enjoyed record national recognition, including Headmaster Leo Winkley named Best Head of a Public School in the Tatler Schools Awards 2026, a place among the world's top 100 private schools in the Spear's School Index for the third year running, senior winner of the Education Choices Award for Working with Local Charities and a Gold Award for mentoring for the second year running in the Oppidan Education Awards.