Bungay High School saw 80pc of students achieve five A* - C grades as they received their GCSE results today.

However, the school saw a 13pc fall in five A* - C grades, including English and maths, to 52pc and vowed to contest the figures in light of the national concerns on English language results.

Headteacher Sean O'Neill said it was a frustrating situation, with some students having to call their proposed colleges to see if they will still be allowed in, after seeing expected C grades become Ds.

He said that there had been 'fantastic individual results' and praised the performances of the students, but said the issue on English results was 'shameful', with a C grade changing from 43 out of 86 to 53 out of 86.

'They have changed the goalposts half way through the course and penalised the young people.

'It is frustrating because the quality of teaching has never been better, the quality of presentation and preparation has never been better, and the motivation of youngsters has never been better, so to undermine their chances is shameful.

'If there are new rules of engagement we plan to prepare accordingly, to change the rules two-thirds through the course can't be right. I've never known anything like it before.'

Particular high achievers were Daisy Vaughan, who received six A*s and three As, and Alex Rolph, who got six A*s and two As, while Emily Walsh was the highest performer in the school's diploma entrants, with the equivalent of 13 A* - C grades in the diploma of Health and Social Care.