A head boy has labelled plans to “triple lock” A-level results as “unfair” after rules were changed less than 48-hours before grades were due to be released.

A-level students across Suffolk will receive their results today and concerns over the way grades will be determined have left many frustrated.

On Tuesday the government introduced a “triple lock” system which allows pupils to appeal their results - which were predicted by their teachers and then moderated to reflect previous years.

Students will now be able to request the results of their most recent mock exams if they disagree with their grade or elect to “retake” exams in November.

However, students and union bosses have criticised the change of plans.

Bertie Barthropp, who was head boy at Ormiston Sudbury Academy during the 2020/19 academic year described the method as “unfair”.

The 17-year-old, said: “It’s stressful because we don’t really know how the system is grading us and because of what we have seen in Scotland, everyone’s feeling that there will be a similar outcome here.

“From what I have read on the government’s website, we are getting graded based on previous years which is unfair because at our school we have done better than others have before us.

“It feels like we are getting graded on other people’s work and other people’s effort.”

Mr Barthropp, who is hoping to go to Bristol University to study engineering, added that allowing mock results would not be helpful to him and his friends, who had not completed full courses before taking their most recent set of practice exams.

“Everyone has the opinion that it’s not going to go well for all of us,” he added.

“A lot of people aren’t planning to go to university now. I think they will take the time to sort out their grades and applications before going next year.”

His mum Victoria, who also has a child receiving GCSE results next week, said that most waiting for their A-level results are feeling “helpless”.

She said: “I think they are almost feeling cheated.

“Their mock results isn’t going to be what they would have gotten in an exam because they hadn’t even finished the curriculum at that stage.

“Nobody ever knows what their results will be, but if you have taken an exam at least you have a feeling for what you might get.

“With mock exams, it is a bit like a team preparing to win golds at the Olympics, they aren’t going to get their best times until the event.

“I know it sounds a bit daft but that’s the same as with students - so their mock results are not going to be their best marks.”

Schools minister Nick Gibb insisted the Government had nothing to apologise for by acting so late in the day in England, adding it would only affect a small number of students.

He said: “There is no confusion. We have been very clear from the very beginning. We had to have a system in place to award qualifications to young people given that we had cancelled the exams.

“We apologise to nobody for finding solutions, even at the 11th hour, to stop any student being disadvantaged by this system.”