NO matter which way the figures are spun, the two Skipton grammar schools can take pride and satisfaction from the figures issued this week which puts them at the top of the "added value" charts for developing pupils between the ages of 11 and 14.

There was no surprise that the schools top the tables for raw results. Any system which creams off the most academically gifted children and then submits them to a national test set by all pupils should have outstanding results. Questions would have been asked if the grammars had not been anything other than top.

But the results unequivocally show that between the ages of 11 and 14 the grammars stretch their pupils. In the case of Ermysted's this is worth three terms of extra progress.

The figures compare children with the same results at 11 after they have sat their results at 14 and the only interpretation is that the children at the grammars have a distinct advantage.

In balance, it has to be said that the last set of figures, for progress between the age of 14 and GCSE exams put Ermysted's below the national average. But there is little argument with the GCSE results turned out by the schools. It could be argued that they are so far ahead by this stage that the rest are doing a little catching up.

What is a shame is that so relatively few Skipton area children are getting these benefits, with all the 50 or so extra places provided by the two schools in the last couple of intakes going exclusively to non-Skipton area children.