The overall results showed another rise at the Harborough school but the 5 A*-C figures without English and Maths have shown a drop.

The school's head teacher Colin Dean described the results as 'puzzling' and said it would be looking 'very carefully into why this might be'.

He went on to say this morning: "Some detailed investigation with the exam boards in a few subjects needs to be undertaken."

The school's statement in full:
"GCSE results at Robert Smyth School have produced a 'mixed bag' of headline figures this year.
Results in the major subjects of English, maths, science and ICT all showed yet another increase on the previous year, as did the percentage of students achieving 5 A*- C including English and maths.
"However, the 5 A*- C figure without English and Maths showed a small drop to 64 per cent, despite there being a superb crop of outstanding individual performances.
Colin Dean, head teacher, said: "Although we are very pleased that the four major core subjects have all again made good improvement, our overall 5 A*- C appears to have dipped.
"This is puzzling, especially since the figure is considerably below our predictions for this cohort (banding].
We are obviously looking very carefully into why this might be, although it is too early to tell at the moment.
Early analysis would seem to suggest that some detailed investigation with the exam boards in a few subjects needs to be undertaken.
Once more, though, very well done to all students and staff for their hard work and impressive achievements this year."