STUDENTS across Bicester collected their GCSE results after what has been an unusual academic year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Bicester schools opened their doors last Thursday to pupils who had anxiously waited for their results.

But teenagers awaiting their BTec grades will have to wait even longer after an exam board pulled the results the night before.

Pearson said it would be regrading its BTecs, a move which impacts 450,000 pupils.

It comes after the Government did a U-turn on a controversial algorithm to calculate A-Level grades.

Students who received their GCSE results celebrated their success.

Top pupils at Heyford Park Free School were Sam Denison who achieved eight 9s and two 8s and Hailey Chan who got six 9s, three 8s and a 6.

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Acting headteacher, Victoria Wallington, said: "It has been a long wait since the announcement that exams would be cancelled, combined with the additional stress of recent changes, but today was a day of excitement and celebration for most students as the uncertainty ended and they were able to confirm their plans to move on to the next stage of their education.

“With appropriate social distancing measures in place, both staff and students were happy to see each other after such a long time away; students were able to collect their yearbooks and celebrate together in what was a very positive end to such an unusual year.”

Year 11 students at The Bicester School also celebrated after getting their GCSE results.

ALSO READ: GCSE results day for schools and students in Oxfordshire

The school did not release headlines but executive headteacher, Tony Rushworth, said: “In these unprecedented and challenging times for our young people in Bicester, I would like to congratulate all of our students who have achieved an excellent set of results.

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"These results are richly deserved and we look forward to continuing to work with our students as they move into the Bicester Campus Sixth Form."

Several students at Bicester Technology Studio achieved grades that will allow them to go on to study at the school's Sixth Form.

A student whose grades were all 8s, 9s or Distinctions, will now do an apprenticeship at Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, one of the UK's scientific research laboratories.