The Schools Record
Search
For advisers
Menu

Questions · KCS Wimbledon

What changed in KCS’s GCSE results after 2012?

How KCS’s GCSE A* and A*–A shares moved from 2012 to 2016, before the switch to 9–1 grades.

Covers: KCS Wimbledon’s GCSE results for 2012–2016, as shares of entries on the old A*–G grades. 2017, the year grading changed, and the later 9–1 grades are left out, because they use a different scale.

On this page

The answer

On the old A*–G grades, the share of KCS’s GCSE entries graded A* was 13.3 percentage points higher in 2013 than in 2012. It stayed above 2012 in every year from 2013 through 2016. That describes the published results over those years; it isn’t a statistical test of a lasting change, and it doesn’t say why they changed.

The figures

Each figure keeps its own year and group, and doesn’t change with your shortlist.

Select a reported value to inspect its source. Open the definition for its population and denominator.
Measure and evidenceReported value

2012 · GCSE / IGCSE A*–G

KCS · 2012 A*
Definition and population

Native legacy-scale A* share.

Population
Legacy grade entries
Denominator
Unknown / not recorded
63.4%

2012 · GCSE / IGCSE A*–G

KCS · 2012 A*–A
Definition and population

Native legacy-scale cumulative A*–A share; an unrecorded year remains unknown.

Population
Legacy grade entries
Denominator
Unknown / not recorded
90.4%

2013 · GCSE / IGCSE A*–G

KCS · 2013 A*
Definition and population

Native legacy-scale A* share.

Population
Legacy grade entries
Denominator
Unknown / not recorded
76.7%

2013 · GCSE / IGCSE A*–G

KCS · 2013 A*–A
Definition and population

Native legacy-scale cumulative A*–A share; an unrecorded year remains unknown.

Population
Legacy grade entries
Denominator
Unknown / not recorded
96%

2014 · GCSE / IGCSE A*–G

KCS · 2014 A*
Definition and population

Native legacy-scale A* share.

Population
Legacy grade entries
Denominator
Unknown / not recorded
76.7%

2014 · GCSE / IGCSE A*–G

KCS · 2014 A*–A
Definition and population

Native legacy-scale cumulative A*–A share; an unrecorded year remains unknown.

Population
Legacy grade entries
Denominator
Unknown / not recorded
Unknown / not recorded

2015 · GCSE / IGCSE A*–G

KCS · 2015 A*
Definition and population

Native legacy-scale A* share.

Population
Legacy grade entries
Denominator
Unknown / not recorded
85.1%

2015 · GCSE / IGCSE A*–G

KCS · 2015 A*–A
Definition and population

Native legacy-scale cumulative A*–A share; an unrecorded year remains unknown.

Population
Legacy grade entries
Denominator
Unknown / not recorded
97.1%

2016 · GCSE / IGCSE A*–G

KCS · 2016 A*
Definition and population

Native legacy-scale A* share.

Population
Legacy grade entries
Denominator
Unknown / not recorded
77.9%

2016 · GCSE / IGCSE A*–G

KCS · 2016 A*–A
Definition and population

Native legacy-scale cumulative A*–A share; an unrecorded year remains unknown.

Population
Legacy grade entries
Denominator
Unknown / not recorded
96%

Look at more than one threshold

The table places the top A* share beside the broader A*–A share for the same annual records. These cumulative bands help distinguish a change at the apex from movement across a broader threshold. They are examination-entry distributions, not percentages of children achieving a particular set of grades.

We have no A*–A figure for 2014. Its absence is part of the example: the top-band sequence is more complete than the broader-band sequence. No value is interpolated to make the two rows tell an equally complete story.

How far does the pattern extend?

The eligible A* observations support persistence above the 2012 point through 2016. That makes the change more informative than a comparison of just two adjacent years. It still doesn’t show that the school’s results moved to a new level for good.

The next held headline is a grading-transition row. It cannot silently extend the legacy A* series. A later grade 9 or cross-scale headline is a different measurement, even if the graph would look smoother when joined.

The institutional explanation remains open

A change in intake, subject mix, qualifications, examination boards, teaching or cohort composition could contribute to a change in aggregate results. The grade shares alone can’t separate those causes. A formal structural-break claim would also require a specified statistical method and assumptions; none is supplied by this worked example.

A useful historical investigation would align documented changes in school entry and curriculum with dated outcomes, then consider alternatives. It would not name a single policy as the cause merely because its date is close to the observed movement.

Use the finding to ask a better question

Compare KCS with another school on the same legacy band and years, inspect what happens on A*–A, and preserve the missing-year explanation. This provides a concrete view of the historical distribution without turning it into a forecast for a pupil joining now or a prediction that another school will repeat it.

Try the comparison

KCS Wimbledon and St Paul’s: Legacy GCSE / IGCSE entries at A*, 2012–2016

Share of published legacy-scale entries awarded A* in the named examination year.

KCS Wimbledon’s recorded result was typically 1.9 percentage points lower than St Paul’s across 5 shared years (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016). “Typically” means the median of the annual differences.

Legacy GCSE / IGCSE entries at A* · 2012–2016
  • KCS Wimbledon
  • St Paul’s
Legacy GCSE / IGCSE entries at A*, 2012–2016, on a scale of 60% to 90%. KCS Wimbledon: 5 years (2012–2016), latest 77.9% in 2016; St Paul’s: 5 years (2012–2016), latest 77.8% in 2016. Each point links to its source record; the exact values are listed below the chart.KCS Wimbledon 2012: 63.4%KCS Wimbledon 2013: 76.7%KCS Wimbledon 2014: 76.7%KCS Wimbledon 2015: 85.1%KCS Wimbledon 2016: 77.9%St Paul’s 2012: 82.5%St Paul’s 2013: 78.6%St Paul’s 2014: 84.3%St Paul’s 2015: 82.3%St Paul’s 2016: 77.8%

Each school against the same scale and years.

KCS Wimbledon
Legacy GCSE / IGCSE entries at A*, 2012–2016, on a scale of 60% to 90%. KCS Wimbledon: 5 years (2012–2016), latest 77.9% in 2016. Each point links to its source record; the exact values are listed below the chart.KCS Wimbledon 2012: 63.4%KCS Wimbledon 2013: 76.7%KCS Wimbledon 2014: 76.7%KCS Wimbledon 2015: 85.1%KCS Wimbledon 2016: 77.9%
St Paul’s
Legacy GCSE / IGCSE entries at A*, 2012–2016, on a scale of 60% to 90%. St Paul’s: 5 years (2012–2016), latest 77.8% in 2016. Each point links to its source record; the exact values are listed below the chart.St Paul’s 2012: 82.5%St Paul’s 2013: 78.6%St Paul’s 2014: 84.3%St Paul’s 2015: 82.3%St Paul’s 2016: 77.8%

A break in a line means a year has no comparable figure; nothing is estimated. The figures behind the chart are listed below.

Exact values, and years left out
The figures behind this, as each school printed them
School and yearFigureWhat it countsSource
St Paul’s School
2012		82.5%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesSource and full figures: St Paul’s School, 2012
St Paul’s School
2013		78.6%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesSource and full figures: St Paul’s School, 2013
St Paul’s School
2014		84.3%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesSource and full figures: St Paul’s School, 2014
St Paul’s School
2015		82.3%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesSource and full figures: St Paul’s School, 2015
St Paul’s School
2016		77.8%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesSource and full figures: St Paul’s School, 2016
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2012		63.4%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesSource and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2012
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2013		76.7%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesSource and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2013
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2014		76.7%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesSource and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2014
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2015		85.1%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesSource and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2015
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2016		77.9%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesSource and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2016
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2014		Unknown / not recordedGCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesSource and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2014
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2012		Unknown / not recordedGCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1915Source and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2012
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2013		Unknown / not recordedGCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1865Source and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2013
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2014		Unknown / not recordedGCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1619Source and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2014
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2015		Unknown / not recordedGCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1575Source and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2015
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2016		Unknown / not recordedGCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1593Source and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2016
St Paul’s School
2012		Unknown / not recordedGCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1901Source and full figures: St Paul’s School, 2012
St Paul’s School
2013		Unknown / not recordedGCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1867Source and full figures: St Paul’s School, 2013
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2012		62.6%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1915Source and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2012
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2013		75.8%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1865Source and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2013
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2014		76.7%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1619Source and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2014
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2015		85.1%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1575Source and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2015
King’s College School, Wimbledon
2016		77.9%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1593Source and full figures: King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2016
St Paul’s School
2012		82.5%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1901Source and full figures: St Paul’s School, 2012
St Paul’s School
2013		78.6%GCSE / IGCSE A*–G · Grade awardsLegacy grade entriesOut of 1867Source and full figures: St Paul’s School, 2013
Record details

Each figure’s status as recorded, the precision it was printed to, and its record code.

  • St Paul’s School, 2012: Primary / Secondary · 1 decimal place · fig:st_pauls_gcse:13
  • St Paul’s School, 2013: Primary / Secondary · 1 decimal place · fig:st_pauls_gcse:14
  • St Paul’s School, 2014: Primary / Secondary · 1 decimal place · fig:st_pauls_gcse:15
  • St Paul’s School, 2015: Primary / Secondary · 1 decimal place · fig:st_pauls_gcse:16
  • St Paul’s School, 2016: Primary / Secondary · 1 decimal place · fig:st_pauls_gcse:17
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2012: Secondary / Primary · 1 decimal place · fig:kcs_gcse_headline:11
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2013: Secondary / Primary · 1 decimal place · fig:kcs_gcse_headline:12
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2014: Secondary / Primary · 1 decimal place · fig:kcs_gcse_headline:13
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2015: Secondary / Primary · 1 decimal place · fig:kcs_gcse_headline:14
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2016: Secondary / Primary · 1 decimal place · fig:kcs_gcse_headline:15
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2014: Primary · As published; not an exact number · research:kcs:2014:gcse-igcse:retrospective-a-star-a
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2012: Primary · As published; not an exact number · research:kcs:2012:isc-annual-gcse-letter
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2013: Primary · As published; not an exact number · research:kcs:2013:isc-annual-gcse-letter
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2014: Primary · As published; not an exact number · research:kcs:2014:isc-annual-gcse-letter
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2015: Primary · As published; not an exact number · research:kcs:2015:isc-annual-gcse-letter
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2016: Primary · As published; not an exact number · research:kcs:2016:isc-annual-gcse-letter
  • St Paul’s School, 2012: Primary · As published; not an exact number · research:st-pauls:2012:gcse-igcse:total:d15624ef
  • St Paul’s School, 2013: Primary · As published; not an exact number · research:st-pauls:2013:gcse-igcse:total:9e24ab13
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2012: archived source; source population and version retained · 0 decimal places · research:kcs:2012:gap-audit:isc-annual-gcse-letter-derived
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2013: archived source; source population and version retained · 0 decimal places · research:kcs:2013:gap-audit:isc-annual-gcse-letter-derived
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2014: archived source; source population and version retained · 0 decimal places · research:kcs:2014:gap-audit:isc-annual-gcse-letter-derived
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2015: archived source; source population and version retained · 0 decimal places · research:kcs:2015:gap-audit:isc-annual-gcse-letter-derived
  • King’s College School, Wimbledon, 2016: archived source; source population and version retained · 0 decimal places · research:kcs:2016:gap-audit:isc-annual-gcse-letter-derived
  • St Paul’s School, 2012: Source-specific grade percentages verified · 0 decimal places · research:st-pauls:2012:six-school-audit:gcse-igcse:derived-published-total
  • St Paul’s School, 2013: Source-specific grade percentages verified · 0 decimal places · research:st-pauls:2013:six-school-audit:gcse-igcse:derived-published-total
  • KCS Wimbledon · 2012: research observation outside matched schoolwide scope; incompatible definitions; missing value
  • KCS Wimbledon · 2013: research observation outside matched schoolwide scope; incompatible definitions; missing value
  • KCS Wimbledon · 2014: incompatible definitions; missing value; research observation outside matched schoolwide scope
  • KCS Wimbledon · 2015: research observation outside matched schoolwide scope; incompatible definitions; missing value
  • KCS Wimbledon · 2016: research observation outside matched schoolwide scope; incompatible definitions; missing value
  • St Paul’s · 2012: research observation outside matched schoolwide scope; incompatible definitions; missing value
  • St Paul’s · 2013: research observation outside matched schoolwide scope; incompatible definitions; missing value
Open this comparison

Where these figures come from

Each record gives the full definition, the documents it came from and what we checked.

  1. King’s College School, Wimbledon · 2012 · GCSE results · 2012 · A*-G

    Native legacy-scale A* share. Native legacy-scale cumulative A*–A share; an unrecorded year remains unknown.

    Checked against the original: top band and top two bands.

  2. King’s College School, Wimbledon · 2013 · GCSE results · 2013 · A*-G

    Native legacy-scale A* share. Native legacy-scale cumulative A*–A share; an unrecorded year remains unknown.

    Checked against the original: top band and top two bands.

  3. King’s College School, Wimbledon · 2014 · GCSE results · 2014 · A*-G

    Native legacy-scale A* share. Native legacy-scale cumulative A*–A share; an unrecorded year remains unknown.

    Checked against the original: top band.

  4. King’s College School, Wimbledon · 2015 · GCSE results · 2015 · A*-G

    Native legacy-scale A* share. Native legacy-scale cumulative A*–A share; an unrecorded year remains unknown.

    Checked against the original: top band and top two bands.

  5. King’s College School, Wimbledon · 2016 · GCSE results · 2016 · A*-G

    Native legacy-scale A* share. Native legacy-scale cumulative A*–A share; an unrecorded year remains unknown.

    Checked against the original: top band and top two bands.

  • The persistence statement stops at 2016 and uses eligible legacy A* observations.
  • No formal structural-break test, causal attribution or school-quality forecast is made.
About this answer

Editorial interpretation by The Schools Record. The research material below informed the questions; source passages consulted for this explanation are identified above. Displayed numerical examples come from this publication’s current evidence records; earlier research editions do not override them.

  • The Schools Record · article archive · September 2026 · pages 10–11

Reviewed for this edition on . This is an interpretation of the cited evidence, not a new check of every original historical publication.

Read corrections and unresolved publication differences

Where next

What would you like to understand next?

  1. What does the wider grade distribution show?

  2. Understand KCS’s later numbered-grade subset

  3. Choose a period without crossing a definition break

Try it on my shortlistReturn to my comparisonSaved

Your shortlist and years stay with you. “Ask this next” changes your current question, not anything you’ve saved.

Source evidenceOpen full record ↗