Customer Story: British School Al Khubairat

• At the time of writing, the British School Al Khubairat achieved record GCSE results, attributing its success in part to its subscription to GCSEPod.
• Students who used GCSEPod more achieved better results, particularly in English Literature and the Sciences.
• GCSEPod is a crucial element in producing students with the keen study skills and growth mindsets that will not only enable them to perform superbly in school, but also take these skills with them into the next stages of their lives.

Record-breaking results

The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi has good cause to celebrate; the non-selective, not-for-profit co-educational school announced record GCSE results at the same time as securing one of the highest inspection ratings across the Emirate and being named one of the top 10 schools in the UAE by Schoolscompared.com.

At the time of writing this customer story, the school faced widespread changes to the curriculum and more vigorous examinations. Despite this, a staggering number of The British School Al Khubairat’s students achieved top grades in their exams; 92% achieved A*-Cs and amazingly 20% of GCSE students secured the new Grade 9 in English against a UK average of only 2%.

GCSEPod: A key contributor to success

Whilst the hard work and determination of the staff and pupils is without doubt the biggest contributor to the school’s success, senior staff at the school are attributing its phenomenal achievements – in part – to its recent subscription to GCSEPod.

The British School Al Khubairat became the first school in Abu Dhabi to subscribe to GCSEPod, an award-winning digital learning platform offering revision content for GCSE and IGCSE qualifications. Students can utilize GCSEPod for independent learning, homework support, and classroom activities.

Widely used in over a quarter of UK secondary schools, GCSEPod is gaining traction in international schools following the British curriculum.

Of the 10 students with the highest GCSEPod English Literature usage, 8 achieved a 7-9 grade (equivalent of the old A-A* grade); 8 achieved higher than their predicted grade (4 by two grades); and the remaining 2 were in line with school predictions. Great stuff!

Student engagement and independent learning

In March this year, Headteacher, Mark Leppard MBE, saw GCSEPod in action at the BSME conference and subscribed to the digital content. Within weeks, the benefit was apparent.

Many of the school’s Year 11 students became instant regular users and data from the school shows that there is a direct correlation between usage and exam success; students who used the resource more achieved better results, particularly in English Literature and the Sciences. Nigel Davis, deputy head teacher believes that GCSEPod has contributed to the school’s recent success. He said:

Although we are still growing in our use of GCSEPod, the inbuilt usage reporting gave clear evidence of a correlation between those students who were avid watchers and those who achieved the top GCSE grades.

We are genuinely excited about the future with GCSEPod and will be increasingly using it to flip the classroom and encourage independent study that we crave.

Looking ahead: GCSEPod as a permanent fixture

GCSEPod is a crucial element in producing students with the keen study skills and growth mindsets that will not only enable them to perform superbly in school, but also take these skills with them into the next stages of their lives.

GCSEPod is now built into the fabric of the school, we know how valuable it is, and it’s here to stay.

Find out more

Are you a high achieving school with record results, is your Progress 8 score currently below average, or maybe you somewhere in between? No matter what your current standing, all types of schools are finding huge GCSE learning and revision success using GCSEPod. If you'd like to see the impact that GCSEPod can make for your school, schedule your live demo.