PUPILS are packing their bags with shiny new stationery and saying goodbye to summer as a new school term starts.

The academic year will commence today for many Oxfordshire students, following a county-wide inset, or teacher training day, yesterday.

Niall McWilliams, head of The Oxford Academy in Littlemore, hopes to use the year to continue the academy's success story over the last few years.

He said: "It sounds sad but I always really look forward to going back. I always enjoy the first day of term and the excitement; catching up with colleagues and students and seeing how their summers were."

GCSE students will be working hard to succeed in spite of tougher content and a new grading system, which only affected maths and English exams this year but will be rolled out across scores more subjects.

But Mr McWilliams said: "We don't want to worry students about that [the changes]. We'll get that sorted.

"In a much more difficult and unknown year, the progress of students again was very strong. That's three years of very good results both at sixth form and Year 11. The popularity of the school is growing, it's oversubscribed and that is a reflection of how much better the school has got."

The Oxford Academy, which has more than 1,600 pupils on its roll, has been the subject of a growing success story after a turbulent past.

In 2013, prior to Mr McWilliams taking over as head, it was deemed 'inadequate' by Ofsted and placed in special measures.

Staff have since worked tirelessly to improve, and last year the education watchdog rated it 'good' overall, with the top rating of 'outstanding' awarded for the leadership and management category.

The report that year noted students were 'exceptionally well cared for' and that 'leaders and teachers work beyond what might be expected'.

Last month the school's students celebrated stellar BTEC results and a solid set of GCSEs.

Speaking about his aims for this academic year, Mr McWilliams said: "I want to continue that upwards trajectory and success. Education is important in terms of social mobility and making the most of life.

"School makes a massive difference: it can make or break your life, it's that simple. Education is unbelievably important, it opens doors and options."

Offering words of wisdom to incoming and returning students, he said: "Enjoy school. All you can do is make the most of it, work hard and really look forward to it. You'll miss it."