Sidmouth GCSE students have been celebrating after receiving their results on Thursday, August 20.

Sidmouth College Principal Sarah Parsons said the remarkable group of young people had been a credit to themselves not only during the last five months but over the past five years.

She added: “The qualities that they have shown, commitment to their studies, positive attitudes to their learning, resilience, determination to succeed and desire to aim high, have meant that they are today finally able to see the rewards of this hard work.

“We were devastated that our students were unable to sit their final exams and missed out on the opportunity to showcase their knowledge and skills within the formal examinations.

“The results that our students have received today are a true reflection of their potential and should now be celebrated.

“We are looking forward to celebrating the success of this year group later on in the Autumn term with the GCSE Celebration Evening and the Prom, this will be an opportunity to recognise the wonderful individuals who have made this cohort such a pleasure to work with.”

Mrs Parsons also welcomed the Government’s last-minute decision to change the grading of GCSE and A-Level results.

Nationally, about 40 per cent of A-level results were downgraded last week by Ofqual from the ‘centre-assessed’ grades - the predictions made by schools and colleges.

But after a dramatic U-turn from the Government, the lower grades are being scrapped in favour of those the schools and colleges predicted students would have achieved if they had sat the A-level and GCSE exams - or the moderated grade if this is higher.

Mrs Parsons said she was pleased that students’ grades would be based on their centre assessed marks if they were higher than the grades they received under the discredited moderation scheme.

She added: “The focus for us has always been on the fairness of the process, to ensure that no student was disadvantaged.

“The generation of centre assessed grades is one that was carried out with a high level of rigour, integrity and accountability, based on high quality evidence from prior assessments with a thorough quality assurance moderation process.

“As a college we were confident that our centre assessed grades were accurate and reflected the ability of each individual student.”

Mrs Parsons said the importance of the results was to provide options and opportunities for all students to further their education or training.

She added: “We work hard at Sidmouth College to foster a lifelong love of learning in all our students and we are excited to be welcoming back record numbers of students into our high performing sixth form.

“Last week we celebrated excellent A-level results which have continued to improve following the recent government changes.”

Mrs Parsons thanked all of the staff at the college for their continued dedication to students and the high-quality teaching, learning and support they had provided which enabled students to be successful.

She also thanked parents who had worked alongside the college in partnership over the last five years.

Mrs Parsons added: “My final thank you goes to Mr Ingham-Hill, vice principal, who has worked closely with the year group during this pivotal year providing clear structure and high expectations, I know that the students have once again benefited from his leadership.”