MOLE Valley schools bucked the national trend for GCSE results with all of them recording an improvement in the percentage of their pupils achieving five or more A* to C grades including English and maths.
Overall, the average across the district hitting this key indicator of performance was 84 per cent, compared to 80 per cent last year.
Nationally, the proportion of GCSEs awarded at least a C grade suffered its biggest fall in the exam's 25-year history, with the pass rate at A* to C being 68.1 per cent, down 1.3 per cent on last year.
But the future for GCSEs remains uncertain after Education Secretary Michael Gove announced a major overhaul of the system in June.
Under the new guidelines, which will come into effect in 2015, the qualifications will move from including large elements of coursework or controlled assessments, to coming down solely to exams sat at the end of two years of study.
Commenting on the changes, Alan Mitchell, head teacher of St Andrew's School, in Leatherhead, said: "There are changes every year. The English and maths exams they took this year are different to the ones they took two years ago, which were different to the ones before that.
"People worry about change but, at the end of the day, if you work really hard and the teachers work hard and the parents support their children, then they will do well.
"I do question though, if GCSEs are such a poor qualification, then why are students still taking them this year and the year after that?
"Why let 600,000 children take them for the next two years? I do think they should be more tactful and careful in what they say when people are still working towards them.
"I think the most important skills we can teach children are hard work, determination and commitment. We want the children to know that hard work is ultimately worth a lot.
"So my one worry with losing coursework and controlled assessments is that some students will be disappointed, no matter how hard they worked – and what message is that sending?
"Qualifications only get you into the job you want and then, if you want to do well, you have to work hard when you're there."
Ashcombe School head teacher David Blow added: "Coursework stopped two years ago and changed to controlled assessment which was 'exams in a classroom', and now that's being stopped because of what happened with English last year.
"The concern for us is that every year something is changing. And it's that constant change which makes it incredibly difficult and puts pressure on everybody, irrespective of what one might think of the changes.
"To have, every two years, another major change is, in itself, not good for kids or for schools."
