A GRAMMAR school head said he feared being “insensitive” by celebrating exam success in wake of the summer grades fiasco.

In a letter to parents, Dr Robin Bevan, head at Southend High School for Boys, said he was worried about the response to the students’ grades.

It comes after youngsters faced uncertainly over their A-level and GCSE results last month when the Government scrapped exams and brought in new ways of calculating results.

Dr Bevan said: “The Ofqual fiasco surrounding the award of grades has made it difficult, indeed almost insensitive, to publicise openly the outstanding successes of our students in their examinations this summer.

“They may not have entered the examination hall, but they demonstrated exceptional resolve, studied hard, were taught well and – for those leaving us – are well-placed for the next steps in studies or employment. Congratulations!”

He also said attendance at his school is very high with lots of students still keen to work and complete their studies.

The headteacher warned about taking safety very seriously and said anyone with symptoms should stay away from the school.

He said: “We do need to be mindful of the importance of staying away when unwell. The season of ‘winter colds’ will not be far away and whilst it would be a mistake to confuse a ‘snuffle’ with the onset of Covid, it would also be a mistake to be attending school when ‘under the weather’ and, therefore, more exposed to infection.”

Thousands of A-level students saw their results downgraded from their schools’ estimates by an algorithm, before Ofqual – the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation – announced a U-turn allowing them to use their teachers’ predictions.

Roger Taylor, chairman of Ofqual, said ministers went ahead with the decision to abandon exams after the regulator suggested running socially-distanced exams or delaying tests, before cancelling them.

But Gavin Williamson, Education Secretary, told MPs Sally Collier, Ofqual’s chief regulator, made it clear running an exam series was not something the watchdog “thought would be viable”.

When asked whether Ofqual’s reputation had been damaged, he said: “What we both failed to recognise was the fact that we weren’t in peace time.