As students across the country celebrated their A-Level results and started making plans for their futures yesterday, one Twickenham school praised the tenacity of pupils and teachers alike over the past 17 months.

Richard Burke, Principal at St Richard Reynolds Catholic College in Twickenham, said yesterday was a results day like no other, and praised the achievements of a cohort which has seen more educational disruption than any other since the second world war.

He said: "The global pandemic and huge disruption to the education system has hugely impacted on learning and caused a change in the way that this year's A levels have been assessed, with public exams cancelled and our teachers assessing students instead.

"Our students at St Richard Reynolds, and all others across the country, deserve huge credit for their fortitude in such circumstances.

"Similarly our teachers and support staff deserve sincere thanks for the enormous amount of work they have put into implementing a new system at great speed following the government's abject failure to prepare a contingency plan for the exams being cancelled."

Burke addressed the inflation in results that has occurred during the two years of pandemic exam results, saying it does not represent a devaluing of the grades.

The Telegraph reported that this year 44.8 per cent of A-levels in the UK were awarded top grades compared to 25.5 per cent in 2019, which was the last year that students took formal exams.

Burke said: "It would not be surprising if the distribution of grades is different from years when exams take place, or indeed the grade distribution last year, because this year's approach to assessment is different from other years and making direct comparisons is therefore like comparing apples with pears.

"This does not represent a devaluing of the grades awarded.

"On the contrary; this cohort of students has suffered more educational disruption than any cohort since the second world war and their achievements are extraordinary in such difficult circumstances and should be celebrated.

"We are sure the vast majority of our students will achieve their preferred place at University. Those few students who will have missed grades and enter the clearing process will be supported by us to obtain a place on a course which fulfils their aspirations.

"This is an anxious time in any year, but we would reassure all students that they will progress to the next stage of their lives and can look forward to bright futures.

"They will not be defined by their A level grades; they have been a fabulous group of young people and we wish them well, hoping that they feel that they have been loved, listened to, challenged and inspired."

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