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Original poster

The Real School League Tables

142 replies

Xenia · 21/03/2010 17:56

Only using subjects Cambridge accepts (top 1000 are ranked in all sectors). I like the fact they give earlier rankings too so you get to see the history rather than just a blip year.

www.ft.com/cms/s/0/53840c30-327e-11df-bf20-00144feabdc0.html

"The FT?s school league tables focus unashamedly on academic achievement defined by ?core? subject A-level results, as set out by Cambridge University in 2006. Subjects such as drama and media studies are not included in our analysis.

By contrast, the government?s summary scores for schools at GCE/VCE, A-level and AS-levels this year (for 2009 exam results) again included various other qualifications in subjects such as animal care, and make-up, which we feel give little help to students and parents aiming for places at top universities.
...

Apologies to readers in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, but the devolved assemblies (education is devolved) have decided that school performance data is not a public good and have made school level data nigh-on impossible to access. Sadly we cannot include their schools.
...

Like the government?s, our analysis uses the QCA points system, as follows: grade A A-levels = 270 points, grade B = 240 points, C = 210 points, D = 180 points and E = 150

OP posts:
jackstarbright · 22/03/2010 19:42

"What the tables don't tell you, of course, is how well your DC will do at any particular school."

AmicIssima - so true! Parents need to use league tables with care and with reference to their own child.

ABetaDad · 22/03/2010 19:30

amicissima - what you said about "...others can be discouraged into giving up by not being at the top of a class, even though they may be in the top, say 5%, nationally" is very true.

It is the reason we chose a somewhat less acaemic school because DS2 is able but gets turned off if he cannot win or be top of the class. DS1 is very academic and self motivated but we wanted a school that motivated both.

Original poster
Xenia · 22/03/2010 18:43

Most children follow the herd. If the herd at the comp leave school at 16 with abotu 34% A - C at GCSE like my local school here (up from 22% the year before or something!) most children will follow that herd. If mot of the herd like at say North London C go to good universities your child probably will. It;'s hard to be different as a teenager. Peer group can be all.

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abride · 22/03/2010 17:10

That's so true. I remember once being at a party with a mad woman who kept on and on about her daughter's school only being seventh-best in London whereas her friend's was second-best, and was she doing the right thing? etc, etc.

amicissima · 22/03/2010 16:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Fauve · 22/03/2010 13:08

Interesting. Thanks, Xenia.

Original poster
Xenia · 22/03/2010 10:26

F, state ones are Colchester 7th in country, QE (22), Kendrick (28), Reading 32) and Henrietta B 33. All the others in the top 33 are fee paying.

I agree about Oxbridge too (38 from my daughter's old school - NLCS which is 4th in the country and does IB or A level - the girls decide).

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Fauve · 22/03/2010 09:04

Which is the state grammar, Xenia, please?

ABetaDad · 22/03/2010 09:00

Interesting that a few of the private secondary schools we are thinking of for DSs do move around quite a bit between league tables depending on the methodology used.

DW and me think that all league tables are pretty flawed and real care is needed in interpreting them. What we do take a lot of notice of is how many DCs a school gets into Oxford or Cambridge. It is not so much the absolute number but taking account of the number of scholarships they hand out and what kind of area they are in what success rate they would expect them to have.

Success at getting into Oxford and Cambridge is very hard to fake or manipulate unlike A level results where DCs are told to enter for the exams privately who may not do so well or only entered for easy subjects.

One very high league table school we know is quite mercenary about mainpulating its league table positions but is not as successfulat getting DCs into Oxford and Cambridge as its A level resultd suggest it should be. To get the Oxford and Cambridge results we just ask schools to send a summary of the last 5 years or dig it out of their websites.

The FT league tables get pretty close to how me and DW think private school academic standards can be judged. To be honest,so many DCs get A and A* at A/AS level now that the top schools can only be judged by looking at how many are doing traditional hard subjects and how many are succeeding in getting into Oxford and Cambridge.

It is ony one factor we look at though and we deliberately avoided sending our DSs to a very academic school even though they passed the exam.

Original poster
Xenia · 22/03/2010 08:46

Ah, no I'm wrong. There is one state grammar school in the top 20.

OP posts:
Original poster
Xenia · 22/03/2010 08:42

Ah it wouldn't let me get at it now - may be it's free on the day the paper comes out but not after. Then I could get into it via google though on a google searh of ft schools interactive map www.ft.com/cms/s/0/53840c30-327e-11df-bf20-00144feabdc0.html

OP posts:
Original poster
Xenia · 22/03/2010 08:40

Ah, yes I think I am already registered (free) to use the FT web site hence got on it automatically. They've produced their survey since my youngest was about 5 (20 years ago and I found it useful then) before many other league tables came out. The exclusion of A levels which don't count at good universities and the long term rankings helps makes it clearer. Interesting that a state comprehensive (Watford Grammar - not a grammar by the way despite its name) is I think the best state school, not a grammar if I remember that right.

OP posts:
JGBMum · 21/03/2010 22:48

Xenia - thanks for posting this link. Took me several tries to get on, eventaully I had to register, but I thought the table was very interesting.

BadGardener · 21/03/2010 20:19

sorry for hijack - Xenia, do you fancy popping over to this thread?

abride · 21/03/2010 20:09

That's not the case for some of the schools I'm looking at: very far from it!

zanzibarmum · 21/03/2010 19:58

What on earth is interesting. If these tables included the A levels it excludes the order in the table would be identical.

abride · 21/03/2010 18:26

Really interesting, Xenia, thank you for that.