Students on top of the world

Girls from the Minster School, Southwell, have won an award for achieving the best GCSE geography results in the country in 2007.

The achievement was revealed in the Good Schools Guide, a guide about schools written by parents.

The results take into account how popular geography was compared with other schools, students’ success in it compared to their results in other subjects, the number of pupils who took the exam and the results they achieved.

The school’s head of geography, Miss Jenny Evans, said she was proud of how well the girls had done.

She said: “It’s fantastic. The girls worked really hard for it and did a lot of after school course work sessions and revision sessions before the exams.

“A lot of the girls have gone on to take geography at AS- and A-level and want to take it at university as well because they really enjoy the subject.

“The girls are really pleased, particularly because they have beaten the boys.”

Miss Evans said that geography was the second most popular choice with students picking their GCSE subjects.

She said: “We have done a lot of work recently with teaching and learning styles so we teach the subject in as many different ways as possible to make it accessible for everybody.

“The pupils must enjoy it in years seven to nine so they take it at GCSE and we are also the second most popular A-level choice as well.”

Miss Evans said she hoped pupils would continue to be successful at GCSE geography.

She said: “A lot of schools are struggling with geography but we’re doing really well and the popularity is actually growing so students must enjoy it or they wouldn’t pick it.”