Tanveer Rob, a pupil at Oaklands School in Bethnal Green, attained eleven GCSE’s, including 9A*s and two As. Tanveer achieved an A* in Mathematics, Biology, Physics A, Chemistry, English Language, English Literature A, Media A, Humanities A, Design and technology A, ICT A*(x2).
Tanveer’s Father Abdul Rob and his mother Roushna are ecstatic with the teenager’s runaway success.
“We are over the moon,” said his Father. “This is one of the happiest days of my life, and I thank my son for this.
“It is his sheer will and single mindedness that has led to these super results.
“Tanveer now has an outstanding chance of doing well in the future and these grades will be a huge springboard for the rest of his life.”
Tanveer, who suffered a horrific leg break three years ago, has displayed tremendous guts and determination, overriding major obstacles in his bid for success.
“All the hard work has paid off,” added Roushna. Tanveer has worked himself into the ground and his results are testament to the graft that he has put in.
“We are very proud of Tanveer, and he has set a great example for the rest of his cousins to follow. He is now a positive role model for young people.
“The whole family is delighted, and we will be celebrating this for the rest of the summer.”
Modest Tanveer plans to study medicine. “I couldn’t have done it without the support of my parents and teachers,” he said. I’m really happy and would like to say a big thank you to these people, my friends, cousins, uncles, aunts and wellwishers.”
A government drive to resurrect dwindling numbers of entries in chemistry, biology and physics from the late 1990s has yielded massive growth in the past few years.
Numbers have doubled since 2007, but still only 16% of students take triple science.
The number of students taking French and German this year are both just more than half the number in 1999.
AQA exam board head Andrew Hall said this year's drop of 5.9% had pushed French out of the top 10 subjects "for the first time in living memory".
It continues a steady decline since 2004, when it stopped being compulsory for 14-year-olds to take a language.
Ziggy Liaquat, managing director of the Edexcel exam board, said the decrease in languages was "disappointing".
"There is a conversation to be had about how we do make languages more engaging, more interesting, more relevant for young people," he said.
But John Dunford, head of the Association of School and College Leaders, said pupils were avoiding languages because they are harder than other GCSEs.
Provisional results released show that for the first time, more than half of Tower Hamlets’ students – 51 per cent – achieved at least 5 A*-C grades including English and maths – up around 5 percentage points on last year.
The figure for students achieving 5 or more A*-C grades has also increased significantly, and when the national figures become available, it is expected to show that Tower Hamlets students are doing as well or even better than their peers on this measure.
Schools across the borough have been reporting record improvements.
Bethnal Green Technology College had the best improvement rate in the borough. Fifty-five per cent of students achieved at least 5+ A*-C grades including English and maths – a massive jump of 20 percentage points from last year. There was also a significant increase in the number of students achieving at least five A*-C, from 51 per cent in 2009 to 68 per cent this year.
Mark Keary, the Headteacher, said: “We are over the moon with these results. The students and staff have worked exceptionally hard to achieve them. It’s even more impressive because the young people studied with building work going on around them. No-one complained; they just got on and did what was necessary and that has really paid off.”
St Paul’s Way Trust School, in Mile End, also scored record results this year. Last year it was the only school in the borough below the Government’s ‘floor target’, with 29 per cent of pupils getting 5+ A*-C including English and maths. This year this soared to a massive 44 per cent, and 60 per cent of students got at least 5 A*-C grades at the school overall.
Headteacher Graeme Price said: “We are delighted that so many of our young people have done so well. The students worked so hard to achieve these results.”
The school has seen a lot of change in the last year. It became one of the country’s first Trust schools last March and it is going through a major rebuilding programme and is due to move into its brand new building in January 2011.
Stepney Green Maths and Computing College sustained their strong results with 53 per cent of students achieving 5+ A*-C including English and maths, and 68 per cent attaining at least 5 A*-C grades. Even more impressively, over 30 per cent of the exam entries resulted in a top A* or A grade.
Headteacher, Paramjit Bhutta, said: “Today is a very special day at Stepney Green. We have held our attainment level for a number of years now and for many of our students, their aspirations and dreams for their future careers are closer to becoming a reality.”
Councillor Shiria Khatun, Lead Member for Children, Schools and Families at Tower Hamlets Council, joined students at Bethnal Green Technology College and Stepney Green Maths and Computing College as they opened their results.
Councillor Khatun said: “The phenomenal improvement we are seeing across our schools is clear evidence that Tower Hamlets is a leading borough when it comes to raising attainment.
“The transformation of schools like St Paul’s Way clearly shows that adopting innovative methods and investing in education to raise standards is paying off.
“It was an honour to be able to share in the celebrations of these young people. My congratulations to them, and I know they will go on to achieve even greater success.”
Bethnal Green student Anika Tuba from Shadwell joined the school in Year 10. She got an impressive 4 A*s, 5.5 As and 3 Bs. Anika said: “I’m numb but really happy!”
Mahbub Hussain, 16, from Bow, who also attends Bethnal Green, achieved 10 As and 2.5 Bs. He said: “I still can’t believe it! I’m so happy. It’s been hard work – but worth it.”
Stepney Green student, Muhammad Abdumusabbir, 16, from Cannon Street got 1 A*, 5 As, 6 Bs. He said: “I feel very proud of myself because I worked so hard for this. It was my mum who inspired me and all thanks should to her and my two aunties for their support.
Stepney Green Head Boy, Abdul Shafi, 16, from Stepney, got 2 A*s and 8 As. He said: “I am really pleased. The school helped a lot with extra classes. I think it’s the best school in Tower Hamlets!”
Fahim Hussain, 16, also from Stepney Green got 4 A*s and 7 As. He said: “I feel ecstatic. I revised and prepared for months. There’s no way anyone can say GCSEs are getting easier. We have to work so hard for the grades we get.”