Schools are set to delay the publication of their GCSE and A Level results this summer, because of changes to exam grading.

Students will receive their results in August as planned, but they will not be released to the media until they have been formally verified.

The Cumbria Association of Secondary Headteachers (CASH) has invited the county's schools to agree to delay the publication of results, due to significant changes to GCSE and A level grading.

The majority of the county's schools have signed up, although CASH members not taking part are Richard Rose Central Academy and Richard Rose Morton Academy, both in Carlisle; Queen Katherine School in Kendal; Samuel Kings School in Alston; and Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Penrith.

CASH chairman Jonathan Johnson, principal of West Lakes Academy in Egremont, said: "This year there are more changes than ever to the grading system, grade boundaries and performance measures for A Levels and GCSEs, with the most significant change coming in English and mathematics from grades to numbers (GCSEs).

"While students will individually receive their results as normal on results day, schools in Cumbria have decided to co-ordinate publishing aggregate results data in early September to allow the performance to be thoroughly checked and include the normal remarks and appeals processes.

"This way schools, the media and parents can be confident the data will be consistent across all schools and will be subject to little change afterwards.

"This is a change from the past, but on results day schools will be celebrating the many individual successes of their pupils as they always have done."

The initiative is also being backed by the Cumbria Alliance of System Leaders (CASL), which supports improvement works in education.

The measures have been launched following changes, including the introduction of numerical grading for English and and maths where students are graded from nine to one, with nine being the highest grade.

Other subjects will remain the traditional grading system from A* to G.

According to Ofqual, which regulates qualifications, examinations and assessments in England, said: "The new grades are being brought in to signal that GCSEs have been reformed and to better differentiate between students of different abilities."