The headteacher of The Nobel School in Stevenage said he is thrilled with this year’s GCSE results, which saw 70 per cent of grades passed at A*-C.

That figure was higher than the national average of 66.9 per cent, but the school said institutions are now being measure using the new ‘progress 8’ indicator which focuses on student progress rather than attainment.

A school spokeswoman said early indicators were that Nobel had exceeded expectations on this, but this will be confirmed at the end of September when the statistics are gauged against other schools nationally.

Head Martyn Henson said: “Our students and teachers worked extremely hard for these results and I am thrilled to see their successes.

“Together with our excellent A-level results last week, this is further evidence that our lovely school goes from strength to strength.

Top performers included Matthew Wan, Haarith Aubad, Minal Karadia, Jade Bolt, Harry Draper, Mixon Foo and Matthew Banks who all gained a clean sweep of A* and A grades.