UAE students exceeded their expectations and outperformed their counterparts in the UK once again.

The anxiety and long wait during summer were finally over as students across the UAE celebrated after receiving their IGCSE/GCSE results on Thursday.

Various schools have reported significant higher results this year compared to last year while numerous UAE students have exceeded their expectations and outperformed their counterparts in the UK once again.

The International General Certificate of Secondary Education or IGCSE is an English language curriculum offered to students to prepare them for International Baccalaureate and A Levels.

Students sat under the new 9-1 grading structure, which has been implemented to reflect a move towards more challenging IGCSE examinations. A* to A grades are equivalent to grades 9 to 7 in the new structure while grades 9 to 4 are equivalent to A* to C.

Aldar Academies recorded exceptional IGCSE grades with 98 per cent of the organisation's 188 IGCSE students achieving all A* to C grades. Students from three of the organisation's seven private academies received their results, and also smashed the 2017 English national average GCSE grades.

At Al Yasmina Academy, 92 per cent scored A*, A grades or their equivalent among all exams sat by its 79 students; while 100 per cent earned all A* to C grades or equivalent. The academy also recorded 96 per cent A* to C in English and 91 per cent A* to C in Mathematics, as well as a 100 per cent overall pass rate.

The school's highest achieving students were: Hana Ephremidze, 10A* (from Georgia); Omar Mutaz Ahmad Zeidan 9A* 2A (Jordanain); Tayyeb Sabir Ali, 7A* 3A (Pakistani) and Amr Basem Al Khawaldeh, 7A* 3A (Australian)
The academy's highest scoring Emirati student was Ahmed Abdulla Matouq Abdulla Alhosani with 6A* 4A and 1B. He said: "I was really nervous opening the envelope but it was a relief when I finally did. I am so proud of myself because I studied hard and put in extra hours of work at home and at school.

At Al Bateen Academy in Abu Dhabi, 90 per cent of all grades were A*, A or equivalent, with 99 per cent of the cohort earning all A* to C grades or equivalent while 94 per cent of students achieved an A* to C grade in English, with 85 per cent earning an A* to C grade in Mathematics. The highest achievers were: Farah Abo Asali with 10A* and 1A (Syrian); Hager El Kasabi, 9A* 3A (Egyptian); Jawad Abdulwahab, 9A* 2A (Syrian); Riad Al Asadi, 9A* 2A (American) and Maria Khakimova 8A* 3A (Russian). The academy's highest scoring Emirati was Shaikha Al Nasri with 4A* 4A and 2B.

"I'm speechless. It's been a long year of hard work, but hard work with a well earned end," said Farah Abo Asali, who plans to study Biochemistry or Genetic Engineering at the University of Toronto. "I pushed myself so hard to get the results I wanted, and had my teachers supporting me just as much to get the results they knew we deserved," she added.

Students from 17 GEMS Education schools have also recorded another successful year of GCSE results.

GEMS schools hosted a record of 2,210 students who sat their IGSCE/GCSE examinations. Of all grades achieved across the GEMS schools, 18 per cent were A* or 9-8, 39 per cent were A*/A or 9-7 and 64 per cent were A*-B or 9-5.

Across the GEMS network, 208 students achieved the highest '9' grade with over 500 awarded across all schools while 892 achieved an A* or 9-8 grade and 1,440 (65 per cent) of students achieved an A*/A or 9-7 grade.

Jumeirah College achieved an extraordinary 202 '9' grades with 80 per cent of students gaining A* or 9-8 grades.

Sir Christopher Stone, chief education officer of GEMS Education, said: "This is absolutely fantastic. GEMS Education students have achieved outstanding results through the support of their parents and the tireless dedication of our teachers.

We congratulate all of our students and wish them every success in the coming years."

Brendan Law, vice-president of education - British Cluster at GEMS Education, added: "I would like to express how impressed I am to see that GEMS Education students have once again over-achieved in their GCSE results. We are reminded of the hard work and commitment that personifies so many of our young people.

We wish our students every success in their future academic endeavours, prior to higher education courses and projects beyond GEMS Education."

Meanwhile, in only its second year of GCSE examination results, Kings' School Al Barsha delivered on its mission of achieving 'The Best by Every Child' with 62 per cent of all grades being A*-A, an increase of 18 per cent on the school's A*-A figures from 2017, while a total of 78 per cent of all results achieved were A*-B, which was also a significant increase from the previous year.

Repton School Dubai also celebrated exceptional IGCSE examination results with 94 per cent of candidates have achieved five or more A* to C grades and over 29 per cent of all grades reaching the A* standard, the highest total so far in the school's history.

Moreover, Nord Anglia International School Dubai students, for the fourth consecutive year, have exceeded the UK average for GCSE and IGCSEs with 65 of NAS Dubai students receiving A*-A grades and 99 per cent pass rate. Using the new UK-based point system, a commendable 29 per cent of the NAS Dubai students achieved Grade 9 and 50 per cent achieved Grades 8-9.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in Khaleej Times on Thursday August 23rd, 2018 http://bit.ly/KTIGCSEResults