WALLINGFORD School’s headteacher has moved to reassure students and parents after the school’s “disappointing” A-Level results last week.

The results showed 46 per cent of students achieved the top three A* to B grades, down by 10 per cent from last year’s figure.

But Wyll Willis said the results at the St George’s Road school were “anomalous” and the percentage had perhaps fallen as the school gave less gifted students the chance to take A-Levels.

Mr Willis told the Oxford Mail: “We let kids do A-Levels who perhaps would not be able to elsewhere.

“Do you send them away, because they’re not going to help you up the league table, or do you give them a chance?

“I would rather take them on and let them have a crack at it. It’s not the percentage at the end that matters, it’s the value you add.”

He added: “As a general rule, we made about the same amount of progress as we did last year, but we didn’t do enough.

“We have been very, very strong and perhaps we took that for granted. But any story isn’t going to be fantastic all the time.

“We have got two big departments that perhaps didn’t do as well as we would have liked. But we have good teachers and these results are anomalous.

“If results slip, everybody has to ask themselves some serious questions.

“If you didn’t, then you wouldn’t learn from it. But we’re better than this.”

Parent governor Sally Feaver said she had nothing but praise for the school.

She said: “The staff deal with a mixed bunch of kids and they work very hard to deal with all of their needs.

“You can massage results, by putting the right kids in for A-Levels, but this school doesn’t do this.”

Parent Sue Johnson, 45, said the results did not worry her.

She said: “It’s a very good school and there’s not a member of staff here that isn’t supportive of the children.”

Tuesday’s GCSE results offered encouragement, with the school seeing its best ever results.

Sixty-seven per cent of the 171 Year 11 pupils got at least five GCSEs at grades A* to C, and 95 per cent got five or more GCSEs.

Mentor Siobhan Lancaster said staff gave up their time to help the less able students maximise their potential and take A-Levels.

She said: “It’s about offering the best opportunities to kids in Wallingford.

“I wouldn’t think much of a school which would only take kids to improve its league position.”