A WAVE of elation washed over teenagers’ faces after they endured ‘enormous turbulence’ in the GCSE system.

Relief was thick in the air at Oxfordshire schools yesterday as thousands of students nervously ripped open letters, inked with the first set of results since controversial education reforms.

A new system saw English literature, language and maths grades switch from A*-G to 9-1, with 9 being the best possible grade and even better than the old A*.

The government’s changes, which will be rolled out across scores more subjects next year, also involve a move to exam-based assessment and more demanding course content.

Didcot Girls’ School head Rachael Warwick said the changes caused ‘enormous turbulence’, but praised her students for producing stellar GCSE results owing to ‘resilience and exceptional effort’.

Wheatley Park School headteacher Tim Martin echoed the same point, and said students had ‘successfully weathered the storm’ of reforms and tougher standards.

Headteacher David Wybron, of Lord Williams’s School in Thame, said: “The examinations are now harder and changes imposed on schools were introduced very hastily. These are new examinations and there aren’t any benchmarks.”

But he noted many students still secured ‘outstanding results’.

A new system was brought in after it was thought students were gaining the top A* mark too easily.

The change makes it tough to compare results to last year’s, though grade 4 is generally thought to be equal to a grade C.

But many headteachers across Oxfordshire seemed delighted by performance, including Sue Croft.

The retiring head of Oxford Spires Academy said this year’s cohort recorded ‘outstanding’ results, which included more 9s in English than the national average.

However, she deemed the GCSE shake-up an ‘unnecessary change’, adding: “I would still rather have the old A*-C system. We have had some great successes this year but we would have had them anyway.

“[The new grades] were supposed to get rid of the pass or fail aspect but everyone is talking about a 4 being a C so it hasn’t solved that.

“There was more pressure this year; with much less coursework it became all about what children did in those hours in the exam hall at the end of the year.”

Chris Price, head of The Cherwell School in North Oxford, said the ‘big test’ will come next year when more subjects switch over.

He said the changes meant the school had to buy new textbooks and resources without extra funding, adding: “It’s important we get more funding with all the changes - it’s an expensive process.”

Earlier this week the Oxford Mail reported teachers’ concerns about students feeling like ‘guinea pigs’ caught up in the new system.

The Department for Education has defended its reform, stating it was ‘part of our drive to continue raising standards, so every child is taught the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in life’.