GCSE grades tumbled at schools across South Oxfordshire but teachers praised how students had faced the difficulties of the Covid pandemic.

The pupils who collected their results on Thursday morning (August 24) had seen huge swathes of their school experience blighted by lockdowns and online learning, and they faced more difficulty as the government brought down this year’s grades after a spike in top results during the pandemic.

At Wallingford School, pass rates for English dropped by seven per cent and maths fell by 10 per cent.

READ MORE: Oxford: GCSE pupils praised for 'incredible resilience'

But Leanne Burns, head of Year 11, expressed pride at how the cohort had “faced difficulties head on”

Eleanor Vine got what she needed to study A-levels in French, chemistry, maths, and biology at the school, but felt she could have done better.

Oxford Mail: Leanne Burns, head of Year 11 at Wallingford School, with students

Oxford Mail: Dylan Peters from Wallingford School received one 9, two 8's, two 7's, one 6, one 5, and one 4.

Oxford Mail: Friends Charlotte Hull and Genevieve Bispham, both 16, celebrated their results together at

Oxford Mail: Wallingford School student Samuel Shaw received one 9, one 8, four 7’s, three 6’s, and one 5

Despite the challenges, many students were overjoyed with their grades.

Lillibelle Lewis, 16, hugged her mum when she saw her results (seven 9’s, two 8’s, and one 7, and a distinction star) while Emily Dunn, 16, (eight 9’s, two 8’s, and one 6) shed tears of joy.

The friends both hope to become doctors and will stay at Wallingford for their A-levels.

“I saw the news this morning and it was quite scary coming into school”, said Samuel Jarvis, 16, who worried after seeing that top GCSE grades had dropped across the country.

But Samuel, who hopes to study business at university, was relieved to receive five 7’s, two 6’s, one 5, and one 4.

READ MORE: Oxfordshire GCSE results 2023: Live updates

While far better provisioned during the pandemic, private and grammar schools suffered the sharpest drop in top grades nationally.

Abingdon School, an independent school for boys, refused to release its statistics until next week and said it was awaiting confirmation of some grades from the exam board.

Ronnie Reading, director of teaching and learning, said: “We’re mindful this is the first time pupils have taken external exams and we tried to put things in place to make that as easy as it possibly can be.”

Oxford Mail: Ronnie Reading, director of teaching and learning at Abingdon School

Oxford Mail: Alex Van Doren (right) and Pranit Narain with their results at Abingdon School

Alex Van Doren, 16, who thought he had done “terribly in the exams”, was relieved to come away with five 9’s, four 8’s, and one 7.

Also in the district, 70 per cent of pupils at King Alfred’s Academy in Wantage achieved at least five GCSE or BTEC qualifications at grade 4 or equivalent.

UTC Oxfordshire, a university technical college in Harwell, saw 46 per cent of its students receive grades of 4 and above.