A headteacher from Kendal said that the return of in-person exams is "something we have been building towards." 

Jon Hayes, headteacher for Queen Katherine School said: 

"For us as teachers it's back to normal, for the year 11 children it's something that they have been building towards.

We've known certainly for this academic year that the exams were pretty likely to go ahead, so the children have been prepared for that." 

For the last two years COVID has meant that children have not had in-person exams.

This resulted in controversy back in 2020 when then Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williams introduced an algorithm system based on mocks.

Last year, students received grades based on assessments by their teachers. 

After the last lockdown ended it became clear that students were finally going to sit in-person exams.

However, research done by the Guardian newspaper found that teachers across England had observed high levels of anxiety among pupils.

Headteachers have been complaining about grade-inflation over the last two years, which mean that this year's cohort will perform less well in comparison. 

A survey done by the Association of School and College Leaders found that 82 percent of heads have reported that stress and anxiety are higher than before 2020. 

The poll also found that 78 percent of school leaders had received more requests than before the pandemic for students to take exams in separate rooms, away from the main exam hall. 

Mr Hayes said that Queen Katherine school has taken steps to combat this by providing breakfasts before the exams, with the teachers there to provide last minute hints and tips.

"The students will naturally have a level of nervousness that's normal. Part of our job is to get them to cope with that, so that when they are going in, they are feeling prepped, calm and ready.

The kids have been fantastic nobody has missed an exam, everyone has been on time, the attitude and the approach that they have taken has been commendable considering that they have had eighteen months to two years of disruption."