THERE were many beaming faces when pupils came to collect their results at Everest Community Academy in Oxford Way, Popley.

But although delighted for many of her students, the principal, Julie Rose , was unhappy with the way exams had been marked.

She refused to make public the school’s overall performance or its performance against the Government’s benchmark. This requires that at least 40 per cent of pupils achieve five A* to C grades including English and maths.

Ms Rose told The Gazette that the Academy Enterprise Trust (AET) which runs the school in Oxford Way, Popley, had advised Everest not to publish its results because of the problems with the marking of English papers. The school left Hampshire County Council control last September.

Ms Rose said: “Discussions with other schools and academies have shown English GCSE results may be lower than expected this year. When this situation is fully investigated, we, through AET, will be making the appropriate complaints or appeals to make sure that no students are disadvantaged. Until this is resolved we will not be releasing any overall figures.”

However, the AET later gave the overall figure to The Gazette, showing that the number of students passing five GCSEs in any subjects between A* and C had risen to 61 per cent, from 52 per cent in 2011.

Kelly Tennant, 16, from Tudor Close, Bramley, was one of the happy students, having achieved two A*s, eight Bs, one C and a distinction in BTEC PE. She said: “I was really happy and shocked. I didn’t think I would get any A*s. I’m going to Farnborough to do art, photography, sport and English. I want to go into fashion.”

Rebecca Hooley, 16, from Abbey Road, Popley, was delighted with her two As, five Bs and one D, especially as her mother is giving her £10 for every pass. Rebecca, who is going to Queen Mary’s College, also achieved an A* in maths last year.

Catherine Wilde was Everest’s top achiever, with one A*, six As, two Bs and two merits in a diploma. The 16-year-old from Tadley, who wants to be a music journalist and is going to QMC, said: “I was really nervous and didn’t want to look at the results. I’m really pleased.”

In 2010 the school was one of the worst in the country, with just 17 per cent of pupils achieving the Government benchmark of five A*s to Cs including English and maths. This rocketed to 39 per cent last year.