Despite reports of exams being marked more harshly one school bucked the trend and got its highest ever results for GCSEs.

Caterham High School, Caterham Avenue, Clayhall managed to increase the number of students getting five A*-C grades including English and maths by 10 per cent.

Hilary Davis, who has been deputy headteacher at the school for the past four years, said extra lessons and catering to individual students’ needs was responsible for the leap.

Last year 54 per cent of students managed to hit the five top grades compared to 64 per cent this year.

Ms Davis said: “I’m really pleased with the staff. They worked their socks off and come in giving up their time off to run clubs. The students know they are supported.”

About 35 per cent of all the school’s students are bilingual so extra lessons were put on for anyone struggling.

The school also has five hearing impaired students who all did “phenomenally” well according to Ms Davis.