Signs of hope in school tables

New figures announced today show Bradford is now ranked 129th out of the 149 education authorities in the country.

The number of pupils achieving five A* to C passes in GCSE exams has shot up from 39.6 per cent in 2004 to 46.6 per cent last summer. This figure represents Bradford's best-ever performance.

The 46.6 per cent pass rate also means Education Bradford, the private firm which runs the district's schools, has met a target set by the Government.

However the performance of the district's students, in both GCSE and A-level exams, remains below the national average.

The results from last summer's GCSE and A-levels have been published today by the Department for Education and Skills.

Three Bradford schools have been named in the top 50 in the country for improving pupils' performance between 11 and 16 years old.

Feversham College, near Idle, Britain's first Muslim state school for girls, was named as the second best in the country for "adding value" to pupils' performance between key stage two and GCSE.

And Dixons City Technology College, in West Bowling, was named in the top 100 best performing state schools for its GCSE results.

The district also has three schools in the top 200 nationally for improving GCSE performance year-on-year from 2002 to 2005.

However Bradford's five A* to C pass rate of 46.6 per cent is well below the national average of 57.1 per cent.

And the district's A-level students are also lagging behind national standards.

Using the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service points system, the average score for Bradford A-level students was 232.6 compared with a national average of 277.6

There were also seven Bradford secondaries in the worst 100 in the country for truancy for GCSE students and five schools in the worst 200 in the country for pupils achieving five A* to C GCSE pass grades.

The 11-place jump up the national league table has been hailed as great news by the district's education bosses.

Education Bradford's managing director John Gaskin said: "This is an outstanding performance and the young people who sat the exams, head teachers, teachers and governors should be proud of their achievement."

Bradford Council's director of education Phil Green said: "These record results are excellent news for Bradford as we have seen a massive increase in the number of students gaining at least five A* to C grades and we congratulate all our pupils and staff on their hard work.

"We are particularly pleased to see the levels of improvement in some schools where GCSE results have gone up by 14 per cent.

"We now need to keep up the momentum and make sure students from our underachieving groups continue to make more rapid progress."

Councillor Dale Smith, Bradford Council's executive member for education, said: "The results overall show a significant improvement on last year's and we must now build on this to help ensure we carry on to achieve and do even better next year.

"Several schools have been included in various tables for their individual successes and these need to be congratulated, and we hope many more schools in the future will go on to enjoy similar achievements."

Nab Wood School, Feversham College and Pudsey Grangefield School, which is run by Leeds Council, were all named in the top 200 most improved schools whose GCSE results have improved year on year since 2002.

Nab Wood's deputy head teacher Robert Lewis said: "It is down to the hard work of all the staff and students over a long period of time and I would also like to mention the support we have received from parents.

"We have two review meetings a year of each pupil and it would appear these have been appreciated by parents."

Several inner city secondary schools were named in a league table of the worst 200 schools for GCSE results.

Bradford Cathedral Community College in East Bowling saw just 17 per cent of pupils achieve five A* to C grades, the 17th worst in the country.

At Wyke Manor School, 21 per cent of pupils achieved five good GCSE passes - a one per cent increase on last year but still the 64th worst in the country.

Elsewhere Immanuel CE Community College in Thackley, Belle Vue Boys School in Heaton and Rhodesway School in Allerton all finished in the bottom 200 in the country with five A* to C pass rates below 30 per cent.

However all three schools achieved their best pass rates for the past three years.

There was also several individual success stories across the area in last summer's A-level exams.

Ermysted Grammar School in Skipton, Skipton Girls' High School for girls, both part of North Yorkshire's Education Authority, and The Girls Grammar School, Bradford, were all named in the top 100 schools across the country.

All three schools achieved an average A-level score per student of more than 430 points - meaning the average student achieved more than three As at A-level.

Skipton Girls' High School was also named in the top 200 in the country for its GCSE results with every pupil achieving at least five A* to Cs.

Head teacher Janet Renou said: "The GCSE results are among the best in the school's history. Not only have all students gained five or more passes but 77 per cent have five or more at grade A* or A and every student has at least one grade A."