MAGDALEN College School is again the top-performing school in Oxfordshire at A-Levels.

The independent school in Cowley Place, Oxford, celebrated after an impressive 86.5 per cent of grades were either at A* or A.

Nearly all the 140 pupils at the school who sat A-Levels got either an A* or a B – 97.35 per cent – with every pupil passing.

Tim Hands, the Master of MCS, praised his students’ hard work.

He said: “We are delighted they have done so well and it represents great credit on them.

Students now work harder than they did in my day.”

But Dr Hands, the chairman of the Headmasters’ & Headmistresses’ Conference, raised concerns about the continuing reform of exams. He said: “Stability would undoubtedly help. Examinations have been affected by constant change and it is difficult to teach well if the goalposts and the nature of the playing field are always changing.”

Headington School, Oxford’s all-girl independent school which celebrates its 100th birthday this year, also did well with improved results on last year.

Of the 113 girls who sat A-Levels, 65.1 per cent got either an A* or an A while 85.1 per cent got an A* or a B.

Headteacher Caroline Jordan said: “I’m delighted for all the girls who have achieved places at fantastic universities in a range of subjects from English to Physics, at Oxford, Warwick, Bristol and Durham.

“It’s the culmination of all the hard work that the girls and the teachers have put in.”

Meanwhile 64.5 per cent of Abingdon School’s 150 A-Level students got either an A* or an A and 86.9 per cent of its boys got an A* or a B.

Results at St Helen and St Katharine in Abingdon saw 78 per cent of exams graded at A* or A. Headmistress Rowan Edbrooke said: “This year has seen exceptional success, at the highest grades, across a wide range of subjects demonstrating the strength and depth of the results achieved. This is demonstrated by our highest ever number of A* grades – 41 per cent.”

Girls at Oxford High School also celebrated success, with 74.6 per cent of exams at the Belbroughton Road school being marked at A* or A and 95.3 being marked at A* to B.

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