GCSE exam results in Pendle will not be announced to the Press until a week after students are officially informed.

Head teachers of the seven high schools in Pendle agreed unanimously to hold back publication of the results to allow students who might be away on holiday to get their exam marks through official channels before they appeared in local newspapers.

Martin Burgess is head of Edge End High School, Nelson, and convenor of the Pendle Headteachers' Forum.

He said there had been a few instances when students returned from holiday to be told their results by neighbours or friends who had read them in newspapers. "We felt it was right for them to learn their results in an atmosphere of support at school or with their families at home through the post, rather than through other people getting the results before them," explained Mr Burgess.

It is understood the move was strongly backed by Park High and Fisher-More RC High, both Colne, and the other heads gave their support.

In previous years local newspapers, including the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, were provided with a list of results on the day they were released and published over the following days. About 1,100 pupils in Pendle will know their results in their GCSEs on August 27.

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