Principal, Oliver Mooney and Head of Year 12, Mary McMahon congratulate pupils at St Paul’s High School, who received their GCSE results.

Ryan Cinnamond with his friends are congratulated on their results by Principal, Mr Oliver Mooney.

Pupils from St Paul’s High School are celebrating GCSE success after the exam results were announced recently.

The figures for the Bessbrook school, for pupils gaining five or more A* to C grades including English and mathematics, is 85 per cent, up from 34 per cent in 2002.

Principal of St Paul’s High School, Mr Oliver Mooney said: “These are a marvellous set of results for our students and reflect their hard work and that of the staff. I congratulate them all and look forward to seeing them go on to further success at post-16 level.”

“We are extremely pleased to have achievedsuch outstanding results results, as this can only mean that more students than ever from the school can go on to advance their studies on courses of their choice.”

Mr Mooney added, “This outstanding set of results is all the more special, considering the changes at GCSE, and the introduction of controlled assessment, which is much more rigorous than the old style coursework.”

“Our students have once again outperformed the previous cohort and deserve praise and congratulations for their hard work and efforts.”

One Year 12 student who had experienced more than most when completing his GCSE year was Ryan Cinnamond, who overcome severe medical problems to complete his exams with his year group and graduate with a full set of GCSEs at Grades A*-C.

Ryan Cinnamond, and his parents paid tribute to the staff of St Paul’s High School for their support and commitment to Ryan over the last number of months.  Ryan said, “I would not have passed without the help of St Paul’s.  If I had not had the one-to-one support from my teachers, I would have failed.”