EXAM celebrations in Witney and Abingdon were somewhat muted after the results of an international GCSE in English (IGCSE) were lower than predicted.

Wood Green School in Witney refused to publicly release statistics for all its GCSE results for the 164 pupils who sat them, because headteacher Rob Shadbolt said they would have been skewed by the IGCSE exam results, sat by 40 students.

Mr Shadbolt said the school had contacted the Cambridge International Examinations board because the results were completely out of kilter with students’ predicted grades.

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He said: “I’m frustrated we’re in this position. We’re having to work with the exam board to question the results because we don’t feel they they reflect the students’ progress. We would rather hold back publishing the results until this is resolved, especially because English plays such an important part in the statistics.”

Mr Shadbolt said the school had signed some students up for the IGCSE in recent years because it contains a greater element of coursework and speaking and listening skills which suit certain pupils and are not available in other English syllabuses.

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Bartholomew achievers

Larkmead School in Abingdon also suffered from poor results in IGCSE English. Staff took the decision to publish results anyway with 54 per cent of students getting five A* to C grades including English and maths, Headteacher Chris Harris said: “We are two per cent down on last year, which is absolutely to do with English. We have 11 kids who if they had got a C in IGCSE would have added another 11 per cent to the headline figure.”

Adele Williams, spokeswoman for the CIE, which runs the IGCSE, said: “This year we have seen a significant increase (two thirds) in exam entries for our IGCSE First Language English. It is difficult to draw comparisons between cohorts as each is so different from the last and small changes in grade distributions are to be expected.”

She said concerned schools should appeal.

At Bartholomew School in Eynsham Operational Headteacher Craig Thomas said results showed “great progress” for students right across the ability levels. But there were also high achievers with 11 students getting all A andA*s.

Henry Box in Witney celebrated another solid set of results with 65 per cent of students achieving five or more A* to C grades including English and maths.

Oxford Mail:

Wood Green Skype users Benjamin Esapa, Daniel Hull and James Walker

At Burford School 61 per cent of pupils gained A* to C, a slight decline from 70 per cent last year.

At Wood Green pupils James Walker, Daniel Hull, 16 and Benjamin Esapa, 16, got together on Skype to revise discussing how to tackle past exam questions and sharing exam notes. They achieved a clutch of A and A* grades between them while Fitzharrys School pupils in Abingdon were celebrating a record number of A and A* grades.

There was steady improvement at John Mason School, with 58 per cent of pupils gaining five A* to C grades including English and maths – up seven per cent on last year.

Our Lady’s Abingdon pupil Olly Beaumont, 16, achieved eight A* grades, two A grades and an A with distinction.

Abingdon School achieved 99 per cent of pupils gaining five A* to C Grades including English and maths.

St Helen and St Katharine  topped the charts with all 96 girls achieving five A* to C Grades including English and maths.