The headteacher of The King’s School has praised his students and staff after Thursday’s ‘outstanding’ A-level results, in a year when Covid-19 caused all exams to be cancelled.

Instead, the results were based on an assessment of the grades students would have been expected to achieve if they had sat the exams this summer.

The school’s historic results were also taken into account in a standardisation exercise carried out by Ofqual, and the calculated grades were adjusted to bring them into line with national standards.

Headteacher Rob Gammon said: “The grades awarded highlight the hard work shown by so many of our students and the quality of the teaching and support that they have received during their time at the school.

“We are delighted that so many of our students have been awarded grades that will now allow them to move on to the next step in their education or on to employment.

“In particular, we are very proud of three of our most outstanding students who achieved A*A*A* grades – Jasper Chun, Naomi Gammon and Michael Penston.

“Jasper is going to undertake a civil engineering degree apprenticeship, Naomi will be reading Geography at the University of Cambridge, and Michael will be reading Computer Science at the University of Southampton.”

But he emphasised that The King’s School does not measure success by exam results alone.

He said: “As well as celebrating academic outcomes we also celebrate personal development and growth.

“We are very proud of the contribution that this year group has made to the school community over the past two years and, for so many of the students, during their seven years at the school. Our sixth-form students continue to thrive in a supportive environment where we value success in many wider areas of school life.

“We are so pleased to be able to celebrate the outstanding achievements of our students today. We recognise that these A-Level results are vital in helping students as they move on to the next phase of their lives. We are equally as delighted that we have provided an education which has produced well-rounded young people who have the confidence and resilience necessary to help them be successful in whatever they choose to do in the future. This approach reflects our belief that a first-class education cannot be measured simply with a set of exam outcomes.”

There were none of the usual scenes of students celebrating with their friends at the school, as the grades were released on Thursday morning.

Because of the Covid-19 restrictions, students collecting their results were allocated a time slot and a venue to attend, with separate parking areas and entrances.

Students from different tutor groups were not allowed to mix on the school site, and all were asked to leave quickly afterwards.