A leading figure from the county's educational establishment has described this year's A-level results as a "shambolic disaster".

The chairman of the Kent Association of Headteachers has spoken of his dismay at the handling of the exam grading, which has seen many pupils in Kent receive worse grades than expected.

Watch: students get results amidst government grading controversy

Alan Brookes, who is also executive head teacher at Fulston Manor in Sittingbourne, was speaking as concern mounts across the country about the volatility of results issued after this year's exams were scrapped because of the coronavirus pandemic.

He said: "I think it's worse than I conceivably imagined, unfortunately.

"It's been a complete, shambolic disaster. I don't think anybody expected it could be as bad as this, I don't think anyone expected that the government's last-minute attempt to solve it would, if anything, make it worse, so it’s been dreadful.

"The thing about it being dreadful is not just that obviously head teachers and teachers are enormously frustrated, but at the heart of this are students, young people that have spent years preparing for this moment and are left either with results that do not reflect their work or left in a situation where they have got to negotiate some as yet to be devised appeals system.

"Very, very poor all round I’m afraid."

Watch: Universities reassure students after A-Level grade 'chaos'

Across England it is understood around 40% of all A-level grades awarded to students today were lower than their teachers' predictions.

Asked about the situation in Kent, Mr Brookes said it was difficult to paint a unified picture of the extent of the impact on results because different schools were entering pupils for different qualifications, be they A-levels, BTEC or the International Baccalaureate.

When exams were called of in March due to the Covid-19 crisis, the class of 2020 had their results predicted by teachers and these grades were then checked over by exam boards.

The move has been criticised by several head teachers, including Bruce Grindlay from Sutton Valence School near Maidstone.

He said: "The government felt the need to achieve a spread of results nationally to match the normal spread of statistics, but students are not statistics and can't be treated as such."

Ken Moffat, head of Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in Canterbury, says the "fiasco" has left anger running high amongst Years 13s, many of whose grades have plummeted from their initial predictions.

"For a generation that has already suffered so much this year, this is just the final, careless kick in the teeth," he said.

"We have five subject departments where students have seen their outcomes lowered by three grades. That is unacceptable on any level or model and seems to simply focus on the results in that particular department last year.

"This year’s cohort is our brightest, and smallest, for at least 10 years.

"However, in one instance, a student we have known and taught for seven years had his grade changed from a predicted C to a U."

News from our universities, local primary and secondary schools including Ofsted inspections and league tables can be found here.

Read more: All the latest news from Kent