Pupils picking up their GCSE results saw the beginning of their secondary school life heavily disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Many of the pupils who are receiving their GCSE results were in Year 7 when schools closed due to lockdowns put in place at the time.

As pupils head to their school to pick up their results, Robert Shadbolt, the headteacher of Wood Green School in Witney, believes now is a “good time to take a step back” at look at the difficulties caused by the pandemic.

The Oxfordshire headteacher highlighted a drop in attendance believing this a "post-pandemic reaction" which has seen his school attendance figures decrease from 95 per cent before the pandemic to now being at 90 per cent.

He said: “In our country, 20 per cent of our students are persistently absent from school.

"That’s here in Oxfordshire and around the country. There is a massive set of challenges behind that.

“There has been a post-pandemic reaction including the level of mental health.

“Students who had that time away from school are not returning to school have struggled.

“The traditional model for school for some students is a challenge. Pre-pandemic our attendance was about 90 per cent. Our average now is 90 per cent.

“I think it is a whole mixture of challenges and I think it is a really good time to take a step back and look at not just the pandemic but other societal changes such as social media.”

He added that while many students who regularly attend school are “really happy” with their results, there are some who picked up qualifications and should still be celebrating despite having “struggled to attend" school.

“There are lots of students who are really happy today who have gone through school, got their qualifications and that’s brilliant,” he said.

“But we have our group of students who we care hugely about and put a lot of time into time and effort into supporting for whom have really struggled to attend school.

“Some of them have come with qualifications today and that’s brilliant for them.”

Another school in West Oxfordshire, the Henry Box School also highlighted the effects of the pandemic on their students

A statement from the school said: “Despite the challenges posed by the ongoing impact of the pandemic during the last 5 years, our students have demonstrated remarkable resilience and commitment to their studies.

“These results reflect not just academic achievement but also the personal growth and development of each student.”

The proportion of GCSE entries awarded top grades has fallen from last year but is higher than before the pandemic, national figures show.

Hundreds of thousands of teenagers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their GCSE exam results on Thursday in a year when grades were expected to return to pre-pandemic levels in all three nations.

More than a fifth (21.8 per cent) of UK GCSE entries were awarded the top grades – at least a 7 or an A grade – this year, down 0.2 percentage points on last year when 22.0 per cent of entries achieved the top grades.

This is higher than the equivalent figure for 2019 – before the pandemic disrupted schooling of 20.8 per cent.

The figures, published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ), cover GCSE entries from students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The proportion of entries getting at least a 4 or a C grade, considered a “standard pass”,  has fallen from 68.2 per cent in 2023 to 67.6 per cent this year,  a drop of 0.6 percentage points, but higher than 67.3 pe recent in 2019.

The overall rate for grades 1/G or above is 97.9 per cent, down from 98.0 per cent in 2023 and 98.3 per cent in 2019.

It comes after Covid-19 led to an increase in top GCSE and A-level grades in 2020 and 2021, with results based on teacher assessments instead of exams.