6th February 2014 9:00
By Blue Tutors
New results show that more secondary schools in England are meeting government targets. Of 3,200 state schools, 154 are now categorised as under-performing, a drop of 61 from last year. Schools are classified as under-performing if under 40% of students achieve grades A* - C in Maths and English GCSE. However, school GCSE league tables combine results from academic qualifications with equivalent vocational ones, meaning that the results may be skewed. Concern has been raised in the past academic year, leading to the tables being split this year so that parents and ministers can view the different between academic and vocational results. Schools have been accused of hiding poor academic results behind good vocational ones.
New figures from last summer’s exams show that roughly 6 out of 10 students achieved five A*-C grades at GCSE including Maths and English, the minimum level required by schools inspectors for passing inspection. The results also show that more students are obtaining the English Baccalaureate, with levels rising from 16% last year to 23%. The English Baccalaureate consists of core subjects including English, Maths, Sciences, a language and either History or Geography. The introduction of the EBacc has been hailed as a success, ensuring that students receive a rigorous education in core subjects.
League tables put Colyton Grammar in Devon at the top for GCSEs for the second year in a row, whilst the most improved school is St Thomas More Catholic School in North London which increased the number of students achieving A*-C at GCSE by 60%. Further accolades went to Colchester Royal Grammar school which emerged as the top school for A’ levels, and Archbishop Holgate’s school which achieved top grades for vocational qualifications. The government has praised schools for their results and said that as a result of their improved standards, the number of children attending under-performing schools has fallen by 250,000 in the last 3 years.