A HAPPY headteacher with record-breaking GCSE results has spoken of exam appeals and the pressures of keeping up with an ever-changing curriculum after a year that has seen a number of schools in north Essex disappointed with their results.

Ten schools in Colchester and Tendring suffered worse than expected results and as many as three schools are considering appealing.

Headteachers feel it is harder than ever to maintain high GCSE results when the curriculum continues to change.

Manningtree High School achieved record breaking results this year with 70 per cent of pupils achieving five or more A* to C grades, including in English and Maths.

This was a dramatic contrast to their 2012 results where they only managed 43 per cent.

Headteacher Deborah Hollister said: “Manningtree had unexpectedly poor exam results in 2012 so I have great sympathy for my colleagues."

Ms Hollister said the changing accountability measures for schools makes it almost impossible to compare results from one year to the next.

She said: “The rules about which subjects ‘count’ change all the time and exams themselves also change as exam boards react to changes in the curriculum and are themselves expected to ‘maintain standards’ by politicians.

“There are no two consecutive years in this decade when, as far as I can see, the exam system remains exactly the same."