(Image: Mark Wheelwright)
A SPECIALIST academy is celebrating outstanding GCSE results that are helping to challenge "outdated assumptions" about neurodivergent learners.
Pivot Academy in Leeds, which supports neurodivergent pupils who have faced barriers to education, recorded 63 graded results, with more than half at grade 4 or above.
Nine results were at the highest grades of 7 to 9.
Cheryl Lotherington, headteacher at Pivot Academy Leeds, said: "We are incredibly proud of what our pupils have achieved.
"These results challenge outdated assumptions about neurodivergent young people and specialist education.
"Our pupils have not succeeded because expectations were lowered; they have succeeded because barriers were understood and removed while expectations remained high.
"This is what becomes possible when young people receive the right support, believe in themselves and are given the opportunity to demonstrate their true potential."
Among the results was a grade 9, a 9–8 in science double award, a grade 7 in religious studies and a grade 6 in English literature.
Science was a particular strength, with 75 per cent of double award grades at 4–9, and 20 per cent at 7–9.
Every applicable GCSE entry resulted in an awarded numbered grade, and all pupils completing the English Spoken Language assessment achieved either a Pass or Merit.