Results at Nobel School were some of the best in its history, but their delivery has been marred by software issues.

Pupils at the Stevenage school achieved a 68 per cent pass rate of five or more GCSEs at A* to C, while 50 per cent of these included English and maths. Last years figures were 75 per cent and 57 per cent respectively.

Headteacher Alastair Craig said: “We are very pleased with the results of our GCSE students again this year. These results are testament to the considerable hard work and commitment from students, staff and often parents as well, who give support through the pressures of the exam period.

“We are very proud of this continued tradition of excellence and achievement, and are determined to make sure that this level of achievement continues and develops further. The results reflect some outstanding achievements for individuals.” But he added that some BTEC results, equivalent to GSCEs, were still not clear because of problems with the software that delivers the results to schools.

“At present these results are still under review as we check to make sure that some significant IT issues which under-reported some results have been resolved. We also have a number of challenges going through to the examination boards regarding some results which we believe have been wrongly recorded,” Mr Craig said.